High in the hills, booze tests for devout

The Uttarakhand government is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring the safety of pilgrims and that of the holy place for the upcoming Char Dham yatra. Not only has the government rolled out mandatory and multiple alcohol tests for the pilgrims, it has also come up with an initiative to promote Dev Bhoomi (land of gods) as ‘Sanskar Bhoomi’ (land of culture).

The first step in their series of actions is to ensure that people don’t drink and drive. For this, the drivers will be checked at the entry point to the pilgrimage sites, and several checkpoints will be set up in the districts of Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi, according to media reports. However, no restriction will be put on pilgrims staying at hotels.

“The teams will be equipped with breath analysers at all the decided points. There will be random checks and our teams will be alert on the issue,” Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj reportedly said. As per the minister, the decision taken is not just for the sanctity of the yatra but also to prevent any accidents from happening.

For the pilgrims visiting the Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines, the government is planning on holding narrative sessions at the four shrines, along with handing out brochures printed in Gujarati and Bengali containing the history, background and all the necessary information regarding the place. Apart from this, policemen have been issued directives to treat pilgrims with respect.

Maintaining the need for people to know about the importance of all shrines, deities, and other things related to the place, the government is planning on organising story-telling sessions. “Over the years, we have found that a high number of devotees and tourists come to the state from West Bengal and Gujarat. Therefore, to help them visit their desired places, we will have tourism brochures in the two languages,” the minister was quoted as saying.

“We plan to have a story-telling session or a narrative session, through which the narrator will apprise devotees about matters related to the shrine and other issues,” Maharaj told an English daily, adding that there will be three to four such sessions every day and a proper timetable would be chalked out so that all the people visiting a shrine get an opportunity to attend at least one session.

“We want the pilgrims to return home with a favourable opinion of our state,” he added.

For the yatra, pilgrims will be issued exclusive photo identity cards, which it’s necessary to carry throughout the journey. The registration for the yatra has begun at the Gangotri temple portal.