Kedarnath Yatra suspended due to landslide near Sonprayag

Dehradun: Uttarakhand government has temporarily suspended the Kedarnath pilgrimage following a landslide enroute the Himalayan temple near Sonprayag.

An SDRF team safely rescued 40 pilgrims stranded in the landslide zone. Debris fell near Sonprayag on the way to Kedarnath Dham.

The landslide led to blockade of Kedarnath road going towards the Himalayan temple at Munkatiya near Sonprayag.

State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) officials and Rudraprayag police informed that road at Munkatiya landslide area was completely blocked by the debris and boulders leading to complete halt of public movement.

As the road could not be opened despite all efforts by the administration, the state government was forced to stop Chardham Yatra to Kedarnath. However, they did not inform about resumption of the pilgrimage.

SDRF officials said that around 40 pilgrims returning from Kedarnath were stranded on the other side of the landslide. However, a team SDRF deployed at Sonprayag was able to rescue all stranded pilgrims safely and brought them to Sonprayag.

The landslide took place late last night, when a large chunk of debris and rocks suddenly came down due to rains in the hill areas of the state.

Meanwhile, vehicular movement beyond Silai Band area on Yamunotri Road could not be resumed even on the fourth day of the cloudburst triggering a landslide that killed three people and left seven missing till date.

However, rescuers including teams of SDRF, local police and local administration were able to rescue 254 pedestrian pilgrims on the way to Yamunotri and Uttarkashi.

Rescued pilgrims were stranded between Syana Chatti and Janki Chatti were safely evacuated.

Although pedestrians are allowed to pass through the slide zone but it remained risky.