Bus operators on Chardham Yatra route want fares to be doubled

Bus operators on the Chardham Yatra route in Uttarakhand on Tuesday demanded that they should either be permitted to ply buses at full seating capacity or double fares.

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The Himalayan temples of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri in the state are known as the "chardham".

Though a decision is yet to be taken on starting the pilgrimage, the demand comes in the wake of the state government's COVID-19 guidelines which says buses are permitted to ply at half their seating capacity to maintain physical distance between passengers.

Physical distancing is a prevention and a control intervention to decrease contact between people to break the chain of transmission of a disease, in this case the novel coronavirus.

The demand was made by the Chardham Yatra Joint Rotation Travel Arrangement Committee at a meeting here, Regional Transport Officer Dinesh Pathoi said.

The committee consists of 13 private transport companies that ply buses on the Yatra route.

Committee president Sudhir Roy said plying buses at half their capacity at the same old fare is not possible.

"Either allow us to ply on the route at our full seating capacity or double the fares," he said.

The committee also suggested that a full-scale Yatra should not be started before the end of monsoon, Pathoi said.