Has the necessary medical staff been posted? Uttarakhand High Court questions State government about its plan to reopen the Char Dham Yatra

The Uttarakhand High Court this week asked the State government for a response on whether it intends to go ahead with the reopening of the annual Char Dham Yatra..The State government had earlier taken a call to not open the Char Dham Yatra for visiting pilgrims till June 22, 2021, in view of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic..A Division Bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma also directed Tourism Secretary Dilip Jawalkar to file a report detailing the different phases in which the Char Dham Yatra is proposed to be opened. The Secretary was also asked to inform the Court about the preparations made to ensure that the SOPs issued by the Central and State governments are strictly adhered to by pilgrims.Details on the sanitization of the sixteen kilometre trek at the Kedarnath shrine, and infrastructure facilities and equipment provided for such sanitization were also sought..During the hearing, the Additional Secretary of the State's Culture and Religious Affairs Department had placed on record an affidavit dated June 15 to assure the Court of the safety arrangements being made for the Yatra. The Court noted the various discrepancies in the affidavit, and went so far as to call it "devoid of any cogent and concrete supporting evidence."."A bare perusal of the affidavit submitted by Dr. Ashish Chauhan clearly reveals that the said affidavit is devoid of any cogent and concrete supporting evidence for the statements made in the affidavit. In paragraph no. 6, the affidavit claims that “frequent surprise visits by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Badkot, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Bhatwari and the Joint CEO of the Devasthanam Board are being carried out”. However, the outcome of all these “surprise visits” has nowhere been stated in the affidavit," the order stated. .The Court also observed multiple lacunae with respect to claims of vaccination of priests of the Devasthanam.While the affidavit spoke of the State government's efforts to administer all priests with a second dose of the vaccine, it remained silent on vital details like when this second dose was given or to how many people it was administered.This apart, many important details like the presence of medical staff at the site were also conspicuously missing in the affidavit, the Court noted..Jawalkar assured the Court that the State was currently under lockdown and will remain so until June 22 this year. He also gave multiple assurances that if the Yatra takes place, it will happen in a phased manner and not at one go. .The matter will be heard next on June 23, 2021..Advocates Shiv Bhatt, Abhijay Negi and Dushyant Mainali appeared for the petitioners. Advocate General SN Babulkar along with the Chief Standing Counsel, CS Rawat appeared for the respondents..Concerned over opening of Char Dham, can't be allowed to become breeding ground: Uttarakhand High Court.On the last date of hearing, the Court had expressed its concern over the proposed opening of the Char Dham Yatra amid the COVID-19 pandemic..Previously, in the same matter, the Court had observed,"First we make the mistake of Kumbh Mela, then there is Char Dham. Why do we repeatedly cause embarrassment to ourselves?".[COVID-19] "First we make the mistake of holding Kumbh Mela, then there is Char Dham; Why do we repeatedly embarrass ourselves?:" Uttarakhand HC .[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.