Rains hit Char Dham Yatra; 900 evacuated, 9000 still stranded

The early arrival of Monsoon has sent the annual Char Dham Yatra schedule in the Himalayan state haywire with choppers being pressed into service to evacuate stranded pilgrims. With the very first spell of monsoon showers damaging nearly half a dozen roads and bridges in Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts, choppers were on Friday flown to the affected areas with a team of senior officials to assess conditions and ensure safety of the pilgrims.

According to a late evening government release, 900 persons were on Friday evacuated by choppers from Kedar valley, Hemkund Sahib and Badrinath areas with nearly half a dozen roads and bridges in Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts damaged by first monsoon showers and yatra to the Himalayan shrines severely affected for the second consecutive day.

Additional Chief Secretary Rakesh Sharma, who visited areas close to Kedarnath and Badrinath earlier in the day to assess the situation, said from Kedar valley, Hemkund Sahib and Badrinath in Chamoli district a total of 900 persons were evacuated.

There are no pilgrims left in Kedarnath at the moment and all of them have been brought down to Sonprayag, who may resume their journey when the weather clears up, Sharma told reporters on his return from the affected areas.

Similarly, many of those stuck in Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib areas have been brought down to Joshimath and Ghanghariya, he said, adding, choppers will make sorties even on Saturday to ferry pilgrims who are stuck on en-route to Badrinath and the Sikh shrine of Hemkund Sahib.

Chamoli District Magistrate Ashok Kumar told reporters in Gopeshwar that nearly 9,000 pilgrims are still stuck at different places on <g data-gr-id="38">way</g> to Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib even after Friday’s evacuation exercise.

However, Chief Minister Harish Rawat said the situation is “far from alarming” and the yatra has just been “regulated and not suspended”. He said pilgrims who had completed their journey and could not return to their homes due to blocked roads here and there have been airlifted and moved to their destinations in helicopters.

Those who want to continue their yatra have been asked to halt at safe places in Sonprayag and Ghanghariya and resume their journey when the roads are restored, Rawat said.

“We have flown a total of seven helicopters to meet requirements, if any, to the affected areas out of which five are stationed in Joshimath and two in Mandakini valley. They have been sent primarily to evacuate stranded pilgrims to safety if the need to do so arises,” Uttarakhand Chief Secretary N Ravishankar said. While Joshimath is the base camp for Badrinath, Kedarnath is in the Mandakini valley, which faced huge devastation during the natural catastrophe in 2013.

While a vital motor bridge between Sonprayag and Gaurikund in Mandakini Valley was washed away by heavy rains on Thursday evening, the Badrinath highway remained blocked for the second consecutive day at four points, leaving over 9,000 pilgrims stranded at Badrinath, Hanumanchatti, Pandukeshwar, Govindghat and Ghanghariya, Chamoli District Disaster <g data-gr-id="51">Managament</g> officer Nandkishore Joshi said.

With heavy rocks and boulders from a hillside blocking Badrinath highway between Joshimath and Vishnuprayag, in Alaknanda Valley, devotees bound for the Sikh shrine of Hemkund Sahib and those returning from there had to take shelter at different places, he said.