Char Dham Yatra suspended amid heavy rain, red alerts across Uttarakhand

The Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand was suspended from the afternoon of September 26 until September 27 as heavy rainfall lashed several parts of the state and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued red and orange alerts for several districts. Snowfall was also reported at Hemkund Sahib in Chamoli district on Saturday.

The suspension was ordered as a precautionary measure to protect pilgrims travelling from across India and abroad from hazardous conditions along the pilgrimage routes. The IMD's latest pilgrimage-sector warnings forecast heavy rain, thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds across several routes.

Anand Swarup, commissioner, Garhwal, said in an order that the “Char Dham Yatra will remain suspended during the period following a weather alert issued by the Meteorological Centre, which warned of heavy rainfall and hazardous travel conditions along the pilgrimage routes”.

All district administrations in the Garhwal division were directed to enforce the order in their respective jurisdictions, closely monitor local conditions and take necessary safety measures.

Gangotri, Yamunotri and Kedarnath routes halted

The Uttarkashi district administration separately suspended the pilgrimage to Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham for two days following a red alert issued by the IMD. Pilgrim movement was stopped at designated transit holding points at Heena on the Gangotri route and Dobata on the Yamunotri route.

Shardul Gusain, district disaster management authority officer, Uttarkashi, said the administration was continuously collecting ground reports on rainfall, landslides and other incidents from all tehsils. Officials were also monitoring conditions at the Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines through live CCTV feeds.

District magistrate Prashant Arya directed officials to ensure that the pilgrimage routes remained passable and disruptions were addressed promptly. Road agencies, including the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), National Highways and the Public Works Department (PWD), were instructed to keep heavy earth-moving machinery and personnel on standby at vulnerable stretches.

In Rudraprayag district, the Kedarnath trek route was also halted and helicopter services to Kedarnath Dham were suspended because of inclement weather.

KL Tamta, district information officer, Rudraprayag, said, “The yatra was halted on the Kedarnath pedestrian route while helicopter services to Kedarnath Dham were suspended due to inclement weather conditions.”

Rain, snowfall disrupt normal life

Light to heavy rainfall was reported in Nainital, Champawat, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Uttarkashi districts. Light to moderate snowfall was recorded at Hemkund Sahib in Chamoli on Saturday morning during religious prayers at the shrine.

Sewa Singh, manager of the Hemkund Sahib Trust in Govind Ghat, said the shrine received snowfall on Saturday morning.

Waterlogging was reported in the Dubkiya area of Almora, causing inconvenience to residents. In Mussoorie, broadband services of a private internet operator were disrupted amid the rainfall, inconveniencing weekend tourists.

Himmat Singh Dhillon, a tourist from Punjab, said, “We faced immense difficulty in paying hotel charges and other food items at restaurants through online means as the internet service remained disrupted.” Officials of the company said they were working to restore connectivity by late evening.

The state received 14 mm of rainfall against a normal of 2.8 mm in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Saturday, an excess of 406%.

Champawat recorded the highest rainfall at 73.9 mm against a normal of 2.8 mm, an excess of 2,538%. Udham Singh Nagar recorded 42.8 mm against a normal of 2.9 mm, an excess of 1,376%, while Nainital received 31.4 mm against a normal of 3.8 mm, an excess of 727%.

Pithoragarh recorded 29.3 mm against a normal of 4.1 mm, an excess of 615%; Almora 17.3 mm against 2.8 mm, an excess of 517%; and Bageshwar 17.1 mm against 2.8 mm, an excess of 512%.

According to the IMD bulletin for Saturday afternoon, between 8.30 am and 1 pm, Gularbhoj recorded 57 mm of rainfall, Gadarpur 47 mm, Kashipur 43.5 mm, Rudrapur 42.5 mm and Kichha 36 mm in Udham Singh Nagar.

In Champawat, Pati recorded 41 mm, Champawat town 33 mm and Lohaghat 32 mm. In Nainital district, Kosiyakutoli recorded 39.5 mm, Nainital 39 mm, Kaladhungi 38.5 mm, Haldwani 35 mm, Ramnagar 34 mm, Dhari 33 mm and Bhimtal 30.5 mm.

Rain also continued in the higher reaches of Garhwal, including Lansdowne in Pauri Garhwal and Tharali and Auli in Chamoli.

Red alert issued for Sunday

The IMD has issued a red alert for Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal and Pauri Garhwal districts for Sunday, warning of heavy rainfall at some places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated locations.

An orange alert has been issued for the remaining districts, with isolated areas likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall. The weather department has also forecast continuing rain and thunderstorms in Uttarakhand over the weekend.

The latest IMD forecast shows generally cloudy conditions with spells of rain or thundershowers in Dehradun on September 26 and 27, while the pilgrimage-sector warnings indicate the possibility of heavy rain and thunderstorms along several Char Dham routes.