Over 9,000 devotees are still stuck in Badrinath and at the main camp to Hemkund Sahib in Ghangharia.
With roads blocked and connecting bridges snapped due to heavy rainfall, the Uttarakhand government on Friday launched a massive air and land rescue operation in an effort to move pilgrims to a safer location.
While over 500 pilgrims were air-lifted by choppers from Kedarnath, others putting up at different camps were rescued on foot. Still, over 9,000 devotees are stuck in Badrinath and at the main camp to Hemkund Sahib in Ghangharia.
The rescue operation was launched only after the rains receded after 72 hours. The highway connecting Badrinath however, remained out-of-bounds due to landslide near Lambager, leaving 3,000 pilgrims stranded.
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Dismissing claims that the Char Dham Yatra has been cancelled, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat said, "The news is baseless. We have, in fact, regulated it. The Kedarnath Yatra remained suspended for two days, but on Saturday we will inspect the trek route before allowing the pilgrims to proceed from Sonprayag."
Heavy downpour played a spoilsport for the fourth batch of the Kailash Manasarovar pilgrims as they were not allowed to proceed from Dharchula to Sirkha on Friday. Pithoragarh's district magistrate Sushil Kumar said, "If the weather does not improve on Saturday, we will take the Kailash Mansarovar yatris by chopper to Gala on Sunday. The trek route is intact."
The Chamoli district administration is taking help of the Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police in restoring the pedestrian bridge connecting Hemkund Sahib. The local administration is presently focusing on transporting the stuck Sikh pilgrims from Ghangharia to Joshimath. Chamoli's district magistrate Ashok Kumar said, "Seven choppers have been deployed to ferry stuck pilgrims from Ghangharia and also from Hanuman Chatti, to Joshimath." After over 24 hours of hard work, the Border Road Organisation was successful in making the Uttarkashi-Gangotri highway functional. The highway was blocked due to landslide at many points near Sukki top.
India Today
Showing posts with label Incessant Rains Affect Chardham Yatra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Incessant Rains Affect Chardham Yatra. Show all posts
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Incessant Rains Affect Chardham Yatra
Dehradun: Incessant overnight rains at many places in Uttarakhand today affected the Chardham Yatra with pilgrimage to the Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath being interrupted.
Yatra to Kedarnath has been halted for the day due to incessant overnight rains lashing Rudraprayag district and a Meteorological Department warning predicting heavy rains and moderate landslides at isolated places in the high altitude districts during the next 48 hours, Rudraprayag District Magistrate Raghav Langer told PTI over phone.
Though roads to the temple, including the trek route are alright, devotees are not being allowed to go beyond Sonprayag because of inclement weather, he said, adding rains are continuing.
However, such temporary suspensions are a routine thing en route to the Himalayan shrine as weather in the area keeps changing quickly, he said.
The yatra may be resumed tomorrow if the weather permits, he said.
A landslide beyond Joshimath has also led to temporary interruption of the yatra to Badrinath.
A landslide has occurred about 10 km ahead of the shrine and devotees are not being allowed to proceed beyond Joshimath, Chamoli Superintendent of Police (SP) Sunil Kumar Meena said.
State Disaster Response Force and police personnel are busy clearing the road and the moment it is restored the yatra will be resumed, he said.
Yatris bound for the Sikh shrine of Hemkund Sahib are also not being allowed to go beyond Govindghat for the time being due to bad weather, the SP said.
However, Uttarkashi received moderate rains and yatra to Gangotri and Yamunotri is going on uninterrupted, Uttarkashi Disaster Management office said.
Widespread rains which began in the wee hours are still continuing across Uttarakhand, Meteorological office Director Anand Sharma said.
Places where rains occurred include Munsyari (46 mm), Mukteshwar(39mm), Gairsain (30mm), Uttarkashi (14mm) and Tyuni(9mm).
The Meteorological department had issued a warning yesterday saying heavy rains could occur at isolated places especially in Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Pauri, Tehri, Nainital, Almora and Pithoragarh districts of Uttarakhand during the next 48 hours starting from early morning today.
ndtv
Yatra to Kedarnath has been halted for the day due to incessant overnight rains lashing Rudraprayag district and a Meteorological Department warning predicting heavy rains and moderate landslides at isolated places in the high altitude districts during the next 48 hours, Rudraprayag District Magistrate Raghav Langer told PTI over phone.
Though roads to the temple, including the trek route are alright, devotees are not being allowed to go beyond Sonprayag because of inclement weather, he said, adding rains are continuing.
However, such temporary suspensions are a routine thing en route to the Himalayan shrine as weather in the area keeps changing quickly, he said.
The yatra may be resumed tomorrow if the weather permits, he said.
A landslide beyond Joshimath has also led to temporary interruption of the yatra to Badrinath.
A landslide has occurred about 10 km ahead of the shrine and devotees are not being allowed to proceed beyond Joshimath, Chamoli Superintendent of Police (SP) Sunil Kumar Meena said.
State Disaster Response Force and police personnel are busy clearing the road and the moment it is restored the yatra will be resumed, he said.
Yatris bound for the Sikh shrine of Hemkund Sahib are also not being allowed to go beyond Govindghat for the time being due to bad weather, the SP said.
However, Uttarkashi received moderate rains and yatra to Gangotri and Yamunotri is going on uninterrupted, Uttarkashi Disaster Management office said.
Widespread rains which began in the wee hours are still continuing across Uttarakhand, Meteorological office Director Anand Sharma said.
Places where rains occurred include Munsyari (46 mm), Mukteshwar(39mm), Gairsain (30mm), Uttarkashi (14mm) and Tyuni(9mm).
The Meteorological department had issued a warning yesterday saying heavy rains could occur at isolated places especially in Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Pauri, Tehri, Nainital, Almora and Pithoragarh districts of Uttarakhand during the next 48 hours starting from early morning today.
ndtv
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