The advent of the monsoon season has caused a marked drop in number of people visiting the Char Dham shrines. Those involved in various trades dependent on tourists are disappointed with the drop in number of visitors. The number of people visiting the Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines has also decreased noticeably.
According to the data received from the Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee, so far 2.48 lakh people have visited Badrinath this year while 1.12 lakh people have visited Kedarnath. However with the monsoon on at present, about 200 to 250 visitors are reaching Badrinath per day while up to 70 are visiting Kedarnath per day.
The June 2013 disaster had damaged infrastructure and caused a major drop in number of visitors to these shrines in 2014. This year following repairs and publicity campaign by the State Government, the number of visitors had increased compared to the last year.
The flow of visitors was steady in the initial period after resumption of Char Dham Yatra this year but their numbers have continued to drop substantially since the onset of monsoon.
The national highway to the shrines being damaged at various places by rain and landslides has directly affected the pilgrim numbers much to the disappointment of seasonal traders plying various businesses dependent on tourists. One such seasonal trader Kalpeshwar
Bhandari said that drop in visitor numbers on the Yatra circuit is forcing him to close his eatery. He said, “The bustle of Yatra activity before the disaster has since become a rare sight.”
The BKTC media in charge Harish Gaur said that the number of visitors to the shrines has dropped since the start of the rainy season.