About 400 people have visited the Valley of Flowers during the 17 days since it was opened to the public this year. The heavy rains on June 24 had damaged the bridge en route, disrupting visits to this unique valley. The route to the valley is expected to be restored by Thursday at the latest.
The June 2013 disaster had severed access to the valley of flowers. The route was restored more than a year after the disaster. In the previous year, only 84 tourists visited the valley during a period of 29 days. However, this year, the damage to the route meant that arrivals were thin. The heavy rain experienced here on June 24 resulted in a pedestrian bridge made of wood being swept away disrupting access to the valley. Access to the valley will be restored after the new bridge is constructed. The portals of the lakshman temple and Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara were reopened to the public on June 1.
Generally, the valley of flowers is also reopened for tourists with the opening of portals of the lakshman temple and Hemkund Sahib. However, this year, the valley was opened for visitors about a week after the shrines were reopened to the public. According to information provided by officials, during the 17 days that the valley remained opened for tourists this year, a total of 416 domestic and foreign tourists arrived here resulting in a revenue income of Rs70,875 for the Forest Department. The visitors so far this year included 396 domestic tourists and 20 foreign tourists.
The main route in this area was closed after the bridge across the lakshman Ganga river at Bhyundar was swept away following heavy rain.
A wooden bridge across a nullah to enter the valley was also swept away. According to forest ranger Madan Singh Rana, access to the valley of flowers will be restored once the wooden bridge is put in place latest byThursday. Various types of flowers blossom in the valley during this period which is why effort is being made to restore access without delay in order to boost the number of visitors, he added.