Chardham yatra: Horse-mule carriers earn record Rs 109 crore this year

Dehradun, Oct 29: The Char Dham yatra, which started on May 3 this year, witnessed a record 45 lakhs pilgrims. The huge arrival of pilgrims has proven a boon for the economy of these regions and has led to multi-fold benefits for the local people involved in these yatras.

As per a report in The New Indian Express, the horse-mule and Dandi-Kandi (palanquin) operators earned Rs 109.98 crore of the total business of Rs 211 crore. Their income was more than the business volume of the helicopter companies at Rs 75 crore during the travel period.

The report, citing the Badri-Kedar temple committee, said that the government earned a revenue of about Rs 8 crore from horse-mule and palanquin (Dandi-Kandi) operators alone. Around 15,000 horse and mule owners were registered with the administration during the yatra. Reportedly, over 5.34 lakh pilgrims visited Kedarnath Dham riding horses and mules.

Also, the operators registered for Yamunotri Dham earned Rs 21 crore, according to the committee.

President of the Badri Kedar Temple Committee, Ajayendra Ajay, told the newspaper, "Looking at the profits of businessmen this time, it appears the next yatra would be unprecedented, and the PM's dream would come true."

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Uttarakhand visit urged people to spend at least 5% of their yatra budget on buying local products.

"The corporation is estimated to earn Rs 50 crore. Taxi traders associated with the yatra have also done business thrice the average income of previous years," said Banshidhar Tiwari, managing director of Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam.

Tiwari also added that all hotels, homestays, lodges, and Dharamshala along the yatra route had six-month bookings.

"The GMVN has earned Rs 40 crore till August this year, whereas it suffered economic losses in previous years," said Tiwari.

Additional chief officer of Rudraprayag district panchayat, Sudesh Chandra Jugran said that despite the pilgrim rush, awareness about single-use plastic was still lacking.

"Besides, a comprehensive action plan is being considered at the administrative level to deal with traffic jams," said Jugran, as per the report.

Chardham yatra comprises of visits to four temples: Yamunotri Dham, Gangotri Dham, Badrinath Dham and Kedarnath Dham. The Badrinath Dham is due to close for winter on November 19 while the Kedarnath Yatra closed for winters on Thursday.