DEHRADUN: Amid the ongoing Char Dham Yatra, Uttarakhand police on Sunday appealed to devotees to postpone their pilgrimage to the Yamunotri shrine in Uttarkashi district for the day. The appeal was made citing the number of devotees already reaching the capacity of the shrine.The development came after photos and videos showing a massive rush on the trekking route towards the shrine were widely circulated, citing a risk to devotees’ safety due to a potential stampede.Making the appeal on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, the Uttarakhand police stated, “Today (Sunday), enough devotees have reached the Yamunotri shrine, reaching its capacity. Sending more devotees now would be risky. It’s a humble appeal to all devotees planning their yatra to postpone it for today.”The portals of the shrine were opened for the Yatra on Friday, following which around 13,000 devotees visited on the first day, leading to a jam on the trekking route. Approximately 5,000 devotees were left stranded for about four hours before the SDRF took control of the situation.One of the police officers privy to Sunday’s development said that the decision to make the appeal was made to ensure the safety of the devotees.”As per the decision, police had stopped the vehicles near the Jankichatti area as the parking spaces were already full due to the rush. Police are ensuring that no devotee faces any inconvenience due to the rush, which may endanger their safety,” he said.
