DEHRADUN: The much-awaited Char Dham yatra is all set to begin on Tuesday on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. The first batch of pilgrims has already left for Kedarnath from Rishikesh; the number of those waiting to proceed onward has been swelling at Rishikesh town, where the district administration has made elaborate arrangements for buses and other vehicles, besides also diverting traffic at many places. Photo-registration of pilgrims is happening side by side.

While the portals of Gangotri and Yamunotri will open on Tuesday, the doors of Kedarnath would be thrown open to pilgrims on April 24. Two days later, the portals of Badrinath would also be opened.

After a dip in the number of pilgrim in 2014 following the mid-June 2013 deluge, the state government expects this year's yatra to be a big draw. While the preparations began six months in advance, state tourism officials as well as chief minister Harish Rawat visited several states to convince prospective pilgrims of safety measures taken up by the Uttarakhand government.

Lauding efforts by all the government agencies to ensure safe yatra, CM Rawat said despite frequent rains and a thick cover of snow, dedicated workers did everything in their power to ensure a smooth yatra. "Best possible efforts have been made to ensure proper mobile connectivity, medical facility, food arrangement and security for the devotees," he said.

As part of safety measures, teams of State Disaster Response Force have been stationed at seven key locations on different routes of the yatra. Photo identity cards are being issued to pilgrims to track them in any situation of crisis.

In addition, 17 locations have been identified to be used as halt for pilgrims in case of an emergency. Gauchar and Gopeshwar will be the key halting centres on the Badrinath route. Besides, pilgrims will be stopped at Chamba, Uttarkashi and Harshil on the Gangotri route, at Naugaon and Barkot on the Yamunotri route; and Srinagar, Agastyamuni and Guptakashi on the Kedarnath route.

Uttarakhand director general of police B S Sidhu told TOI, "Our SDRF teams, which have been given professional training, have been kept at key positions. In addition, there would be heavy police deployment on routes leading to Char Dham." SDRF teams will carry the pilgrims who fall ill during the yatra to a "safe" location, he added. "Ambulances and police vehicles will be stationed at maximum possible places to provide medical facility and better treatment to the pilgrims," he added.

Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee president Ganesh Godiyal said that almost 95% work on roads and other arrangements had been completed. "Barring the clearing of snow on a 5-km stretch of road before Badrinath, the work on remaining routes has already been completed," he said. According to Godiyal, the number of pilgrims this year would be at least six times more than the turnout in 2014.