The yatra is an important part of the Hindu ritual and many annual trips to India are specifically planned by the government to organize their traffic, food, lodging and other security measures along with it. By the way, there are many pilgrimage sites in India which have their own glory and recognition such as 51 Shakti Peeth, Amarnath Yatra, Vaishno Devi Yatra and others, but the Char Dham Sthals (Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri) hold a special importance, which our government is going to start a new project that name is “Char Dham Pariyojna” which will make the journey easier with both road and rail connectivity.
Char Dham Pariyojna
The Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways inaugurated the success of the Chamba tunnel under the Chardham project. The implementing agencies are Uttarakhand State Public Works Department (PWD), BRO and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).
The 889-km-wide road project worth Rs 12,000 crore connects four pilgrims – Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri was laid by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 27 December 2016 at Parade Ground in Dehradun.
The Border Roads Organization (BRO) has completed construction of a 440 meter long tunnel under the city of Chamba on the Rishikesh-Dharasu road highway (National Highway – 94). The road will include several long bridges and tunnels to eliminate accidents and prone areas.
The Char Dham highway network originating from Rishikesh will have four separate routes, west to East and South to North:
Rishikesh to Yamunotri:
To go from Rishikesh to Yamunotri, you have to go through Dharasu. The distance from Rishikesh to Dharasu is 144 km and the distance from Dharasu to Yamunotri is 95 km. NH 94 is the national highway connecting Rishikesh to Yamunotri.
Rishikesh to Gangotri:
As before, you first have to go from Rishikesh to Dhrasu which is 144 km by NH 94 from Rishikesh, followed by Dhrasu to Gangotri 124 Km by NH 108. The railway and Char Dham road highway at Gangotri is close to the large disputed Indo-China border area of the Nelang Valley which is currently under operational control of India.
Rishikesh to Kedarnath:
From Rishikesh to Rudraprayag is 140 km by NH58 and Rudraprayag to Gaurikund is 76 km by NH 109. The highway only goes upto Gaurikund. To reach Kedarnath pilgrims have to travel 12.6 km by foot or by helicopter.
Rishikesh to Badrinath:
To reach Badrinath, first you have to go to Rudraprayag which is 140 Km by NH 58 from Rishikesh then 140 km from Rudraprayag to mana with the same highway.
The project will have bypass, bridges, pit closures, parking, helipad and helicopter emergency response services along the way.