Dehradun, Sept. 3 -- The first four months of the ongoing Char Dham Yatra, which began on 30 April 2025, have been extremely challenging for Uttarakhand. My colleagues and I have been monitoring and regularly analysing the government data and what we found is deeply worrying. As of 31 August 2025, there have been 55 "Zero-Pilgrim" days when not a single pilgrim could reach the Char Dham shrines. On another 89 days, the footfall remained below 1,000 pilgrims i.e. one to 1,000 pilgrims.

This is unprecedented. Yamunotri and Gangotri have been the worst affected. Yamunotri had 23 Zero-Pilgrim days and 30 days with one to 1,000 visitors. Gangotri faced 27 Zero-Pilgrim days and 9 days with sub-1,000 footfalls. In comparison, Hemkund Sahib and ...