Kedarnath Yatra resumes amid heavy rainfall; slight dip in number of pilgrims

Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand: Despite heavy rainfalls in the holy region of Kedarnath in the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, the journey to the world-famous sacred Dham resumed on Tuesday.

The rain has caused a slight drop in the number of devotees travelling to Kedarnath. However, despite the rain and slick roads, pilgrims are enthusiastically continuing their journey to Baba Kedar’s temple.

The entire town of Kedarnath is undergoing a chilly spell due to haze clouding in the region. Amidst the downpour, the Rudraprayag administration has been halting the passengers at safer locations for a while to ensure their safety. Due to torrential monsoons in the state, there has also been a significant decrease in the number of pilgrims.

Last month, around eight to ten thousand passengers could be seen arriving per day. But currently, only around two to three thousand pilgrims can be seen travelling to the Dham.

The India Meteorological Department has predicted isolated heavy rainfall (64.5 to 115.5 mm) accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning over Uttarakhand on 12 July, and isolated heavy rainfall on 13 July.

Earlier on Saturday, the Kedarnath Yatra had been stopped to ensure the safety of the pilgrims amidst the apprehensions of untoward incidents due to ongoing heavy rainfalls from Sonprayag onwards in Uttarakhand

On 30 June, the Rudraprayag police at the Sirobgad area had informed about the district being closed till 4 am after the debris and stones kept falling from the hill, which resulted in the traffic being jammed on both sides of the highway.

Badrinath highway was also blocked due to the falling of several boulders at the Birahi and Pagal Nala area, following the overnight rainfall on 25 June.

Meanwhile, on 17 May, the traffic movement was disrupted on the Badrinath route, NH7, near Panchpulia in Karnaprayag after the boulders fell from the hill.

Kedarnath Yatra is one of the four pilgrimages carried out to the religious sites of the Himalayas, where lakhs of pilgrims visit the Kedar Baba’s temple. The other three pilgrimage sites are Yamunotri, Gangotri, and Badrinath. The four sites - Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath - together make up the Char Dham Yatra, which means “four tours to religious desitnations”.

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