By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
In what appeared to be a suggestion to Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has mooted the idea of regulating the religious yatras in the wake of a series of disasters striking the Himalayan region.
“The main issue is not just about terrain, but it is about numbers. In such smaller yatras, earlier the number of pilgrims would be just around 300 to 400, but now this number has gone up to thousands. Obviously, in the wake of changing weather patterns, we should think about some kind of regulation and registration,” Omar said after visiting the devastated Chisoti village in Kishtwar district.
Significantly, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is also facing pressure from environmentalists and different quarters to regulate the Chardham yatra in view of the growing rush of pilgrim. Last year, a whopping 50 lakh pilgrims had visited Bardrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri which are collectively called Chardham of Uttarakhand.
But Abdullah said he would like to consult religious heads before taking a call on regulating these yatras. “But if I make some announcement on this account today, it will be a mistake on my part because people’s religious sentiments are involved with it. So we should deliberate these issues with the religious heads or the persons associated with these yatras and then take some appropriate steps,” he added.
“We have already lost many precious lives, and several are still missing. Around 55 are confirmed dead, while over 100 are injured, out of whom many have been shifted to (GMCH) Jammu, and they are undergoing treatment there. Around 70-80 persons are still reported to be missing. This number will keep on fluctuating, but will not reach 500-1000. Though even 70 or 80 is not a lesser number,” he said.
“You can well imagine how difficult the situation is. So our effort will be to do the maximum possible vis-à-vis the rescue operation. It will be followed by a recovery to retrieve the dead bodies. Our endeavour is to trace as many missing persons and save precious lives, if we still can. Then we will take the relief and rehabilitation process,” he said.
Dehradun-based social activist Anoop Nautiyal has welcomed the suggestion of CM Abdullah on regulating the yatras based on the carrying capacity of the particular area.
