No more trekking at 'Gaumukh'

Tourists will not be allowed to go near 'Gaumukh', the source of the Ganga, with the Uttarakhand government imposing a total ban on trekking to the spot to protect receding Himalayan glaciers from human activities. The regulations would come into effect from this month. Tourists will be stopped 500 meters away from Gaumukh, Deputy Director of Gangotri National Park, Indrapal Singh, said. The park administration would erect fencing and display boards to inform tourists about the ban.

Gaumukh is near the famous shrine of Gangotri visited by lakhs of pilgrims every year. As several trekking routes like Tapovan, Raktvan, Vasukital and Kalindikhal pass through Gaumukh, an alternative route is also being explored by the forest department, he said. In 2008, the government had brought restrictions in the number of visitors to 150 a day. Official sources said Kanwarias, devotees of Lord Shiva, used to throng Gangotri area daily during July-August raising concerns about the fragile ecological conditions of the range.