Chardham Yatra halted due to heavy rains; red alert in Uttarakhand

The famous Chardham Yatra in Uttarakhand has been halted once again but this time it’s not because of COVID-19 but heavy rains.

All devotees visiting the Chardham temples in the state have been asked to postpone their trip by a day or two. Pushkar Singh Dhami, the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, has asked the district magistrates of Pauri and Rudraprayag to keep him updated with the latest situation.

As of now, three people died and two were left injured in the Pauri region while in Rudraprayag out of the 6000 devotees at Kedarnath temple on Sunday, 4000 of them have returned and 2000 are at safe locations.

Those visiting the famous Badrinath Temple have been asked to stay at safe locations at Joshimath and Pandukeshwar. As per records, more than 20000 pilgrims visited the Kedarnath temple on Saturday. This is also the highest number of visitors this season. Police informed that nearly 15000 went back to Gaurikund on Sunday

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning for Monday and Tuesday and on Sunday, a red alert was issued for various places including Dehradun, Uttarkashi, Bageshwar, Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh, Chamoli, Almora, Nainital, Champawat, Tehri, and Pauri Garhwal districts.

The CM on Sunday assured people of their safety and directed the police along with the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to be on high alert.