The Uttarakhand government has temporarily suspended the Char Dham Yatra as heavy rainfall continued to lash Capitol Hill state for second consecutive day on Monday.
According to reports, a minimum of five people, including three labourers from Nepal, were killed and two others were injured thanks to heavy rainfall in parts of Uttarakhand forcing the authorities to advice Chardham pilgrims to not proceed to the Himalayan temples till the weather improves.
The labourers were staying during a tent at Samkhal near Lansdowne in Pauri district when rubble flowing down from a field above thanks to the rains buried them alive, District Magistrate Vijay Kumar Jogdande said.
They were engaged within the construction of a hotel at Samkhal. Two labourers injured within the incident were admitted at the Kotdwar base hospital, he said. In another incident, two people were killed when their house collapsed, following a landslide in Selkhola in Champawat district, the State Emergency Operation Centre here said.
Chardham pilgrims, who had arrived in Haridwar and Rishikesh by Sunday, are asked to not proceed further till the weather improves while operation of vehicles for the Himalayan temples has been suspended temporarily.
Passenger vehicles aren’t being allowed to cross the Chandrabhaga bridge, Tapovan, Lakshman Jhoola and Muni-ki-Reti Bhadrakali barriers in Rishikesh.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the state disaster room at the secretariat here to require weather updates and know the conditions of roads and highways. He appealed to the pilgrims to defer their further journey for 2 days until the weather normalises.
They are staying in safe locations touch Haridwar, Rishikesh, Shrinagar, Tehri, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Guptkashi, Ukhimath, Karnaprayag, Joshimath and Pandukeshwar.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Dhami on the phone to urge an update on precautionary steps being taken by the government in sight of the heavy rain alert and guaranteed him of all possible help.
It has been raining in Kedarnath since Sunday night but the Mandakini river is flowing at its normal level. A Devasthanam Board official said regular prayers at the four Himalayan temples are continuing and pilgrims staying there are safe.
Pilgrims headed for Yamunotri are asked to remain in Badkot and Jankichatti, whereas those on the way to Gangotri are asked to remain in Harsil, Bhatwari and Maneri, Uttarkashi District Magistrate Mayur Dikshit said.
Kedarnath and Badrinath-bound pilgrims have also been requested to not proceed on their journey till the weather clears. Most of the pilgrims on thanks to Badrinath are staying in Joshimath and Chamoli, Chamoli district disaster management officer N K Joshi said.
Around 4,000 yatris out of a complete of 6,000 in Kedarnath on Sunday have returned, while the remaining 2,000 are staying in safe locations. Many of them are stopped in Linchauli and Bhimbali as a precautionary measure, Rudraprayag disaster management officer N S Singh said.
The Chardham Devasthanam Board said the yatra has been temporarily halted for the sake of safety of pilgrims in sight of the heavy rain alert issued by the Uttarakhand meteorological department for October 17-19.
The peaks beyond Badrinath and Kedarnath received light snowfall, whereas the lower areas in Chamoli district were lashed by continuous showers. Rain continued in Uttarkashi and Dehradun in addition.
Gangotri and Yamunotri dham in Uttarkashi district also received heavy snowfall on Monday. Two days of incessant rains not to mention heavy snowfall within the upper reaches led to a pointy fall in temperatures across the state.
Yamunotri highway remained blocked by landslide debris at Kisala and Kharadi for hours before being restored within the afternoon. The Badrinath national highway in Chamoli district was also blocked at several points.
Dhami has asked the district administrations to supply hourly updates on the weather and therefore the condition of roads. He also asked them to stay a minimum interval just in case of a disaster.
All schools across Uttarakhand from class 1 to 12 remained closed on Monday, while a ban was imposed on trekking, mountaineering and camping activities within the high-altitude areas of the state, including the mountain peak biosphere reserve and various forest divisions, till Tuesday as a precautionary measure.
