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

Eighty-six deaths were reported so far due to health-related ailments during the Char Dham yatra which began on May 10, Uttarakhand state government data said.

Out of 86 deaths reported so far, 18 were reported from Badrinath Dham, 42 from Kedarnath Dham, 7 from Gangotri Dham, and 19 from Yamunotri Dham till Wednesday evening, according to the state government data.

117 deaths were reported in 2023 from the opening of the portals of the Char Dham shrines till June 5, of which 40 deaths were reported in Yamunotri and Gangotri while 77 deaths in Kedarnath and Badrinath shrine areas.

Last year, 245 pilgrims died during the Char Dham yatra.

Of them, 120 deaths were reported on the Kedarnath Dham route, 46 on the Badrinath route, 30 on the Gangotri Dham route, and 39 on the Yamunotri Dham route.

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“The number of deaths during 2023 Char Dham Yatra in May was 96, which has come down considerably in 2024 with 68 deaths reported till May 29 this year due to the effective interventions and up-gradation of our health system by increasing the number of health screening centres, increasing the medical staff on Yatra route to ensure that the elderly pilgrims get prompt medical service in case of any emergency”, R Rajesh Kumar secretary health department.

“We had 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 yatra of Kedarnath and Yamunotri shrines”, said Kumar.

“We have increased medical screening by establishing 50 medical screening centres on the route and especially at the registration centres the doctors after assessing the condition advise the highly vulnerable pilgrims not to go further in the pedestrian route while we take an undertaking from those pilgrims who are adamant to continue their yatra and our 104 Swastha Mitras closely monitor them all along the route and provide medicines and other facilities as per requirement”, Vinita Shah, director of Uttarakhand (Health) said.

“We have deployed 80 specialists and 426 doctors on the Yatra route 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”, added Vinita Shah.

Himani Ben, a 54-year-old pilgrim from Gujarat praised the medical treatment facilities.

“The medical screening done at the registration centre in Rishikesh indicated that I was having high blood pressure after which the doctors gave me medication and advised to report to medical relief post on the yatra route in Kedarnath so that effective monitoring can be done to keep all medical parameters in check”, she said.

“So far, 26,957 have been screened medically and around 2,430 pilgrims were treated through OPD in Kedarnath Yatra on Wednesday, which included 1,863 men and 567 women. So far, 64,823 pilgrims have been treated through OPD and emergency, including 59,510 men and 15,313 women while oxygen facility was provided to 202 pilgrims on Wednesday and so far. 4356 pilgrims have been provided oxygen facility on Kedarnath yatra route,” chief medical officer (CMO) Rudraprayag Dr HCS Martolia said.

“Medical relief posts have been opened by the health department at various points from Sonprayag to Kedarnath Dham and various stops of the yatra route so that the ailing pilgrims can be treated promptly”, he added.

The pilgrims on the Yatra route to Madmeshwar and other shrines in the district are also been provided medical aid in case of any ailment or injury in Rudraprayag district, said the health officials.

So far, 1.7 million pilgrims have visited Char Dham shrines and Hemkund Sahib shrine since the start of the Char Dham yatra on May 10.

Out of 1,77,631 pilgrims who have visited Char Dham shrines, as many as 4,21,039 pilgrims visited Badrinath, 35,741 visited Hemkund Sahib, 6,90,348 visited Kedarnath, 3,07,247 reached Gangotri Dham and 3,18,247 visited Yamunotri Dham.