The Uttrakhand government on Tuesday announced that the Char Dham yatra which was scheduled to start on Thursday has been suspended.
The order came a day after the Uttrakhand High Court issued a stay on the government order to permit the pilgrimage to the residents of three districts.
Last week the government had decided to partially open the Char Dham yatra for locals in limited numbers from July 1. Initially, it was decided, the yatra would be opened for residents of Chamoli, Uttarkashi, and Rudraprayag districts with a cap on the number of pilgrims to visit the temples in four pilgrimage sites in Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri.
The Tirath Singh Rawat government had initially suspended the pilgrimage amid the COVID-19 concerns but later decided to allow it in a limited manner.
This was challenged in the High Court which ruled that the pilgrimage should be suspended and cited the COVID-19 guidelines violations during the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar earlier this year.
The Rawat government which took office just before the Kumbh went ahead with the yatra, which saw millions of pilgrims converge there from across India.
Though a COVID-19 negative certificate was mandatory and SOPs for pilgrims were in place, it was hardly enforced.
Later it also emerged that more than one lakh fake COVID-19 negative certificates were issued by private labs to visitors.
The government is also facing accusations of a cover-up of COVID-19 deaths in the state.
Last week, the HC came down heavily on the state government for what it termed as a "totally vague, sham and misleading"?audit report on COVID-19 deaths in the state, which it had ordered.
The court reprimanded the government and said that the reason for the deaths due to COVID-19 was the incomplete preparations by the government.
Earlier this month the Uttarakhand government had cancelled the holy dip on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra in Haridwar.