Chardham Yatra resumes as weather clears up

A day after snowfall in the higher reaches of Uttarakhand disrupted the Chardham Yatra and claimed the life of a porter, the pilgrimage resumed today as the weather cleared up and traffic restored along the main routes.

The Chardham Yatra comprises the Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.

The inclement weather yesterday has claimed at least one life with a porter from Nepal buried in an avalanche while returning to Gangotri from Kedartal along with a team of 31 tourists, Gangotri National Park Deputy Director Shravan Kumar said.

SDRF and police personnel deployed at landslide-prone Lambagad on way to Badrinath, where the road was blocked for eight hours yesterday due to rubble, oversaw smooth passage of pilgrims to the Himalayan shrine, Chamoli District Magistrate Ashish Joshi said.

The weather was also clear at Kedarnath with pilgrims arriving in large numbers since morning to pay obeisance at the shrine, Rudraprayag SP Prahlad Meena said.

Former chief minister Harish Rawat, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pradeep Tamta and Kedarnath MLA Manoj Rawat who were stranded in Kedarnath due to bad weather yesterday, also returned to Guptkashi today.

The road blocked at Ojri-Dabarkot on way to Yamunotri was also cleared at 8.30 am.

Uttarkashi District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan said the pilgrimage to both Gangotri and Yamunotri is going on smoothly at the moment and enough personnel with heavy road-clearing equipment have been deployed at sensitive spots to remove rubble in case of landslides.

Though praising the administration for being alert in Kedarnath, Harish Rawat made a couple of suggestions to the state government to improve the arrangements at the Himalayan shrine.

"I advised the chief secretary to make bonfires at places and streamline power supply at Kedarnath which was disrupted since Monday," he said, adding every pilgrim should be provided a blanket and a raincoat from Kedarpuri to Bhimbali.