Why Char Dham Yatra is witnessing an alarming hike in death count

Since the Char Dham yatra started on May 3, a total of 99 pilgrims have died this year, officials stated. According to officials familiar with the matter, the death toll surged after 8 more pilgrims lost their lives in the yatra on Saturday.

“We are making all possible all efforts to prevent the death of the pilgrims most of whom are elderly persons. Our medical staff along with para-medical staff deployed on the Char Dham routes are conducting medical screening at various places,” Shailja Bhatt, director general health said, according to a Hindustan Times report.

Bhatt cited heart attack as the primary reason behind the reported deaths on Friday. “Most of the pilgrims died due to heart attacks. Also, health services in Char Dham have been strengthened as compared to earlier,” Bhatt told ANI.

She also pointed out that the health department has requested the AYUSH ministry to provide ayurvedic doctors posted in the district for Char Dham duty to provide support to us.

Among the victims, the highest of 42 deaths have been report have been reported on the Kedarnath route, followed by 25 on the Yamunotri trek, while 13 lives lost at Badrinath and 4 at Gangotri.

Meanwhile, seven trekkers have gone missing on the Pandav Shera trek in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district at a height of around 4500 metres, said officials.

So far, over 10 lakh pilgrims have visited the Char Dham shrines and the number is only set to increase further when schools close for summer vacation.

The data of pilgrim deaths in previous years shows that over 90 Char Dham devotees have died in 2019, 102 in 2018 and 112 in 2017 during the entire season which lasts nearly six months from April-May to October-November every year.

“As most of the pilgrims are not used to such high altitudes, they should be given a break in their journey at lower heights to help them acclimatise themselves with the kind of weather they are going to confront in higher altitudes. “They are not able to cope with the abrupt climatic change that they experience after coming from lower altitudes to the Himalayan temples located averagely at a height of 10,000 to 12,000 ft,” Bhardwaj, a qualified doctor told PTI. He said many pilgrims do not come with proper clothing as they are not aware of the extreme cold conditions prevailing in the high altitudes.

He added that many of those who died on way to Kedarnath died of hypothermia which is caused by extremely cold conditions. Weak immunity of pilgrims who have Covid history is another reason for the high number of casualties.