he Uttarakhand government has decided to set up a series of electric vehicle charging points on the route of Chardham shrines this pilgrimage season starting on May 10. The points will charge ₹15-20 per unit.

The State Transport Department has worked out an action plan to set up 28 charging points along the Chardham pilgrimage route. Besides Haridwar and Rishikesh, the electric charging stations will be set up at Kaudiala, Srinagar, Nandprayag, Gauchar, Pipalkoti, Karnprayag, Auli, Guptkashi, Sonprayag, Barkot, Badrinath and other important locations.

The locations for the charging points have been identified by the Transport Department and Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN), a key tour operating agency of the state government.

According to Transport Department officials, one charging station will be set up at every 30-35 kilometre distance on Chardham Dham routes to Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines.

“All 28 charging points will be functional before the start of pilgrimage season 2024. Information on the real-time distance and other details of the stations like waiting time for charging will be provided to the tourists and pilgrims travelling on the routes through an app. The app will be unveiled in the coming days,” said Dehradun Regional Transport Officer Sunil Sharma.

Sharma said the price for charging per unit will be ₹15-20 and ₹400-600 for a full charge of the vehicle.

He further said that the new Chardham pilgrimage season would be more comfortable and easy for the pilgrims travelling in electric vehicles with the availability of charging stations along the route. As per the schedule released by the Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), the 2024 pilgrimage for Yamunotri, Gangotri and Kedarnath will begin on May 10 while Badrinath Temple portals will open on May 12.

Uttarakhand witnessed a record 55 lakh tourist footfalls in the 2023 pilgrimage season, almost 11 lakh more than the recorded 44 lakh pilgrims arriving at the four shrines in 2022. State Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj feels the 2024 pilgrimage season will break the previous records and set a new record for tourist footfalls at the Chardham shrines.