Dehradun: Due to heavy rains and snowfall in the hilly areas of Uttarakhand, the Kedarnath Yatra has been stopped till further orders. The yatra routes connecting Kedarnath and Badrinath were closed due to bad weather and landslides. The police alerted the pilgrims at the Brahmapuri check post and stopped them from proceeding further. On the other hand, the Badrinath Highway was closed on Sunday morning due to heavy debris near Chamoli Bazar, Bajpul, Chada, Pinaula, and Tayapul. After this, the pilgrimage to Badrinath Dham was also stopped. Vehicular traffic on this route has been temporarily diverted from the Nandprayag-Sekot-Kothiyalsen route.
Officials in Joshimath said that work is underway to clear debris from the places where roads have been blocked due to landslides and traffic is expected to be restored soon. According to administrative sources, the pilgrims will now have to wait till May 3 to go on the Kedarnath Yatra. Whereas on Sunday, the devotees kept collecting registration information for Kedarnath at the registration counter throughout the day and later registered for the remaining three Dhams Badrinath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri.
Officials responsible for Chardham Yatra registration told that due to bad weather, the registration of Kedarnath Yatra was stopped from April 25 to 30 on the orders of the government. Due to the lack of clear weather, the government has extended this ban on registration till May 3. At the same time, the work of removing debris from the highway has started and due to this traffic has been stopped at Badrinath Dham near Marwari Bridge. Due to the obstruction of the travel route, the devotees had to wait for hours on the road and faced a lot of difficulties in making arrangements for food and water.
