No Kedarnath darshan without Covid test, even for Uttarakhand residents

DEHRADUN: The Rudraprayag administration, where the Kedarnath shrine is situated, has asked pilgrims, even those hailing from Uttarakhand, to get tested for Covid-19 before visiting the shrine. In case they don’t take a test, the administration will conduct tests before allowing them to visit the temple, an advisory issued by the district administration said.
Till now, around 30,000 pilgrims have registered themselves for the Char Dham Yatra, of which around 13,000 have registered for Kedarnath.
Talking to TOI, Vandana, district magistrate Rudraprayag confirmed that Covid-19 test has been made mandatory for all pilgrims. Though, even an antigen test will be considered here, she added.
“The decision has been taken as the cases are rising every day in the plains like Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar. Even we found two people positive at the check post here after the antigen test. Hence, as a precaution, we have now made Covid-19 test mandatory,” she added.
As per Devasthanam Board’s protocol, the residents of Uttarakhand can visit any temple by only getting themselves registered on the board's website. People coming from outside the state have to either get the RT-PCR test report of the last 72 hours or else have to undergo a mandatory 14 days quarantine before visiting the temples.
Meanwhile, 32-year-old priest Santosh Trivedi who is staging dharna in a half-naked state outside the Kedarnath temple - situated at 11,330 feet from the sea level - to express his dissent on the formation of Devasthanam Board by the state government since June 12, on Friday, announced to take ‘bhu samadhi’ in case the government does not withdraw the Devasthanam Act and the Board.
Talking to TOI, Brijesh Sati, spokesperson of Devbhoomi Teerth Purohit Char Dham Mahapanchayat, a body representing the priests, confirmed about the development and maintained that several other priests are also ready to stage a similar protest.