Kedarnath: The Kedarnath Dham and the Char Dham yatra have officially begun from April 23, and a huge rush of devotees has been witnessed at the religious sites. The videos of overcrowding are going viral on social media. Amid this, the visitors are also facing another challenge – high prices of essentials. According to social media users who are sharing their videos from Kedarnath, a Rs 20 water bottle is being sold for Rs 80 to Rs 100. One of the visitors is seen questioning the shopkeeper over the exorbitant pricing and the shopkeeper gave an honest breakdown of the high price.
In the viral video, a tourist was seen questioning a Kedarnath shopkeeper about Rs 80 bottled water. However, the shopkeeper has now won over the internet with his honest answer. The shopkeeper calmly explained high carriage costs as the main factor. He shared that since there is no transport facility uphill, the water bottles are carried up by human porters. A porter charges around Rs 1,500 per load – two packs of water bottles (24 pieces). He then added that the cost of rent, tent and staff also leads to an increase in prices. Another factor shared by the shopkeeper is short seasonal operations for high prices.
The shopkeeper shared that a bottle is sold between Rs 70 and Rs 90 by them in the area, and they hardly make around Rs 10 per bottle despite facing hardships.
Kedarnath, a high-altitude Hindu pilgrimage site in Uttarakhand, is mainly accessible by steep treks and faces extreme supply chain difficulties. While a 400% markup might seem like a rip-off, the reality of the 18km uphill trek from Gaurikund tells a different story. Mule charges to porter fees are some of the reasons that basic amenities become luxury goods at 11,755 feet.
The video has since gone viral on social media, with many users highlighting that tourists rarely complain about higher markups at airports or restaurants. “People will happily pay 100 for a bottle in a cinema, 250 for Maggi at an airport, but will question a poor worker who did all the hard work and paid carriage charges to provide facilities at such tough-to-reach places. Not justifying overcharging at every place, I know at some tourist spots with easier transportation systems, tourists are overcharged too, but at least at such places, tourists understand how tough things are,” said a user.
Earlier, some social media posts went viral claiming mismanagement at the Kedarnath temple. However, the government rejected the charges and now the Uttarakhand police are registering three FIRs against people for spreading misleading and unverified information. The action follows continuous monitoring of social media platforms, where certain videos and reels were found to contain misleading claims about arrangements at Kedarnath Dham.
According to the authorities, some of these posts alleged that pilgrims were being turned away without ‘darshan’, forced to wait in queues for up to 15 hours without access, and that there was a lack of police presence and crowd management. Officials said these claims were baseless and did not reflect the actual situation on the ground. They maintained that pilgrims are being facilitated in a regulated and phased manner, with proper arrangements in place to ensure smooth “darshan”.
Bureau Report
Leave a Reply