202 deaths during Char Dham yatra so far, 93 from Kedarnath: State govt data

As many as 202 pilgrim deaths were reported so far due to health-related ailments during the Char Dham yatra which began on May 25, Uttarakhand state government official said.

Of the 202 pilgrim deaths, 93 deaths, the highest, were reported from Kedarnath Dham, followed by 52 in Badrinath Dham, 38 in Yamunotri Dham and 15 in Gangotri Dham, the data till Wednesday evening stated.

According to health department officials, the state government has stepped up its efforts to mitigate the number of deaths and is also conducting a health audit of the deaths occurring during the Char Dham Yatra.

“To check death duo to health issues, the state government has made effective interventions and up-graded health system by increasing the number of health screening centres, increasing the medical staff on Yatra route to ensure that the pilgrims get prompt medical service in case of any emergency”, R Rajesh Kumar secretary health department said.

Also Read:86 deaths during Char Dham yatra so far: State govt data

“We issued health advisory to all state governments in 12 regional languages requesting the pilgrims prior to start of Yatra to carry their health history and acclimatise before embarking on the arduous Char Dham. Apart from this, we have also created a mechanism for early evacuation of ill patients through Heli services and regular ambulance service”, he added.

He said that medical screening was increased at key points via 50 medical screening centres.

“Also 80 specialists and 426 doctors have been deployed on the yatra routes while additional medical staff has also been roped in from the periphery areas of other adjacent districts with all medical facilities available at medical relief posts on the yatra route”, he said.

So far, 3.7 million pilgrims have visited Char Dham shrines and Hemkund Sahib shrine since the opening of the portals.

Out of 37,05283 pilgrims who have visited Char Dham shrines, 1.02 million visited Badrinath, as many as 17,103 visited Hemkund Sahib, 1.18 million visited Kedarnath, 0.69 million visited Gangotri Dham and 0.61 million visited Yamunotri Dham.

Last year, Char Dham Yatra, which concluded on November 18, broke previous records with pilgrim influx crossing the 5.6 million-mark, tourism department officials said.