Thousands of pilgrims are stranded in Badrinath, Hemkund and on Char Dham Yatra route due to roads being blocked following incessant rains in the five mountainous districts of Garhwal region for past three days.
The Char Dham Yatra remained suspended for the second consecutive day on Sunday due to rains and landslides in Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag. Three people have also died in Rudraprayag. The authorities have advised the pilgrims to remain in Haridwar or Rishikesh and move towards the Char Dham shrines only after the routes are cleared.
The destruction caused by rains in Uttarakhand exposed the lack of preparedness by the Uttarakhand Government which had earlier claimed that all necessary arrangements had been made to prevent any inconvenience to the pilgrims.
It is estimated that more than 10,000 pilgrims are stranded on the highways from Rishikesh to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. The Yatra route was dotted with landslides and traffic jams in many places.
Rudraprayag District Magistrate Vijay Kumar Dhondiyal told The Pioneer that two persons died in Bhimmalli and one died in Kund. Two rooms of Chandrapuri tourist rest house of Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam were damaged and three homes in Silli at Agastyamuni were also damaged. The bridge at Kund near Gupkashi is submerging with the administration alerting the army and ITBP.
Dhondiyal said that 35 people were stranded have been rescued from Gaurikund. The State Government has sanctioned Rs 3 crore out of which the administration has distributed Rs 35 lakh to each Tehsil. The Kedarnath Yatra has been suspended by the administration for safety reasons.
The Uttarkashi additional district magistrate BK Mishra informed that the water level of the Bhagarathi river has risen and is only three metres below the danger mark.
Mishra denied any information about a cloud burst on Saturday midnight but said that continuous rains are increasing the possibility of flood. People residing in the slums on river band in Uttarkashi have been shifted to inter-college rescue camp along with 40 pilgrims from lucknow.
About 3,000 pilgrims are stranded in Gangotri while about 2,500 are stranded at Yamunotri stranded in the shrine.
The roads are blocked at many places, but landslides and boulders have caused greater problems at Nalapani and Dharasu while the road near Sangam Chatti has been completely swept away. Four homes and three JCBs used for flood protection works were swept away at Tiloth while the bridge connecting Tiloth to Uttarkashi has been damaged.
According to sources, the route to Badrinath has been blocked ahead of Pipalkoti at Pagalnala, Diggadi near Joshimath, Gaghariya near Hemkund and between Hanumanchatti and Badrinath. Nearly 9,000 pilgrims are stranded in Badrinath and about 3,000 are stuck on the Hemkund route.