On 23^rd June 2021, The Uttarakhand High Court observed that we must not invite the COVID 19 Pandemic again, by organising and holding large gatherings at the religious shrines and also the State must not permit the Chaar Dhaam Yatra too. The court is well aware of the fact that cancellation of such large scale Chaar Dhaam Yatra will lead to financial loss to the residents, but right now it is more important to save lives of people, the court remarked.

To safeguard the loss of the business and local citizens who were financially dependent on the Chaar Dhaam Yatra for business, the court asked the Government to announce “economic stimulus plans” for them. The court also suggested to allow live streaming of the Chaar Dhaam shrine for its devotees so that people can witness deity and pay reverence from homes while they safeguard the lives of themselves and others.

The court also directed the State Government to review its decision on opening the Chaar Dhaam Yatra for the following reasons:

1. The new Delta Plus variant which has affected a lot of southern states can soon spread in whole country including Uttarakhand if large gatherings like this is allowed.
2. The statement of AIIMS Director says that India will observe Third wave of the virus in the month of August this year.
3. Jammu and Kashmir Government has already cancelled the Amarnath Yatra this year due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
4. Data shows that Uttarakhand allowed Kumbh Mela in April and due to which 59% of deaths in Uttarakhand occurred in the month of May due to COVID-19. This is the clear indication of consequences of such large gatherings.
5. Recently on 20^th June 2021, on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra it was observed that the SOPs were breached without any care.
6. Lastly the court mentioned that it has been warned that the third wave will evidently will affect more to the children and if due to the third wave we will lose our children, then the lose will not be only of parents but it will be large scale loss to nation.

– Animesh Raizada, Intern