The Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand has been halted in view of the inclement weather
Snowfall and heavy bouts of rain are pummelling the Char Dham Yatra pilgrims in the upper reaches of Uttarakhand. Thousands of pilgrims have been told to break their journey en route the holy temples of Kedarnath and Yamunotri in the Garhwal Himalayas as a precautionary measure. The peaks around the famous Badrinath shrine have also received fresh snowfall. Kedarnath has been receiving snowfall for nearly 48 hours now, and its impact was experienced in the faraway Delhi-NCR as well where the temperatures fell nearly eight degrees Celsius and the weather turned quite pleasant as compared to the previous fortnight which was nothing less than a scorcher. While Garhwal’s upper regions have been receiving snowfall, the lower areas are being lashed by incessant rains, prompting the authorities to halt the travel by devotees. The pilgrims and tourists were directed at Gaurikund and Sonprayag not to proceed any further in view of the impending inclement weather. The devotees proceeding towards Yamunotri were also halted at Janakichatti, virtually the last stopover point on way to the famous shrine that makes part of the State’s Char Dham circuit also comprising Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath, as the weather started playing truant in the afternoon.
According to the local administration at Badkot and Rudraprayag, the pilgrims have been told not to proceed any higher as a precautionary measure as it wasn’t safe for pilgrims to travel beyond these points “for the time being”. They shall be allowed to continue their ascent as soon as the weather clears. With the COVID-induced restrictions having been eased after almost two years, a record number of pilgrims this year are visiting the holiest of the four Himalayan temples in Uttarakhand. More than nine lakh pilgrims have already paid obeisance at these temples in the Garhwal region since the Char Dham Yatra got underway on May 3. Meanwhile, the Hemkund Sahib Yatra also began on Sunday with 5,000 pilgrims allowed to visit the shrine daily. The peaks surrounding Hemkund Sahib experienced light snow on the day the portals of the shrine were opened “but it has not affected the yatra”, according to an official of the Hemkund Sahib Management Trust. The need of the hour is for the authorities to limit the number of pilgrims per day each season so as not to put pressure on the region’s fragile ecology.