The Char Dham Yatra to Kedarnath was halted amid heavy rain, gusty winds and snowfall in Uttarakhand even as the pilgrimage to Gangotri, Yamunotri, Hemkund Sahib, and Badrinath continued as usual.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also issued an orange alert on 24 and 25 May for Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
An orange alert is issued when there is isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall consecutively for three days.
Earlier, there has been snowfall in the higher region like Dhauladhar and others.
The officials also informed that the orange warning for Delhi, Punjab and Haryana was later converted into a yellow warning after a decrement in the situation.
The Hemkund Sahib Yatra began on Sunday with 5,000 pilgrims allowed to visit the shrine daily. “Hemkund Sahib experienced light snow on the day the portals of the shrine were opened but it has not affected the yatra,” said Hemkund Sahib Management Trust vice president NS Bindra.
The district administration cited the pilgrims’ safety and stopped the yatra for the Kedarnath shrine at Rudraprayag.
District disaster management officer NK Rajwar said due to the heavy rain, the pilgrims, who have arrived in Ukhimath, Sonprayag and Gaurikund, were asked to stay there until further announcement as winds, thunderstorms and lightning pose a risk to them on their way to Kedarnath.
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