The second phase of Char Dham Yatra has witnessed a good turnout of devotees at Badrinath Dham post monsoon. With the increasing amount of devotees and vehicles, however, congestion has also surfaced at certain locations along the length of Badrinath National Highway.
Pilgrimage activities are under way at Badrinath with thousands of devotees reaching there to pay their respects to Lord Badri Vishnal at the shrine. There are reports of multiple points between Karnaprayag and Badrinath experiencing long queues due to an increase in the number of visitors.
Traffic Congestion Reported Across Key Routes
This traffic has also impacted on roads themselves from the Gopeshwar road to the Chamoli to Joshimath and Marwari. Carriage on these roads is being delayed and pilgrims are reportedly taking longer than normal time to reach Badrinath.
This has caused a concern in the readiness of the locality administration. In the second phase the pilgrimage was said to have been well streamlined, but the number of vehicles has caused issues that have been highlighted in several places.
The Road between Joshimath and Marwari is very difficult in terms of speed of the traffic flow, as the widening of the road is limited there.
Pitru Paksha Adds to Pilgrim Rush
The current Váru Paksha period has added to the folks visiting Badarinath which is also considered to be “Moksh Dham”. A lot of devotees are coming here to offer the ancestral prayers (Pitru Tarpan) and other rituals in order to appease their ancestors.
The hustle and bustle of Char Dham Yatra and Pitru Paksha has added extra strain on the highway network, further adding risk of a long traffic jam.
Police Step Up Traffic Management
Police and administrative officers have been assigned to several locations to control car traffic and congestion. Efforts are ongoing to ensure traffic moves at critical locations on the pilgrim corridor to accommodate the planned surge in traffic to date.
Others, however, have been asking for improved traffic control and improved railings in high-traffic areas at this station. They have also reminded tourists to reach Badrinath on time or else devotees will face the prospect of spending several hours stuck in the queue.