“With a prayer on our lips, we walked hand-in-hand and took shelter in an ashram even as incessant rain pounded the hilly terrain at Badrinath. We never lost hope and prayed continuously after which the intensity of rain gradually started subsiding giving a ray of rope for us to return home safely,” said K. Praveen Kumar, on phone from Badrinath. Kumar is among the 15-member group on the Char Dham Yatra, from Chinna Chowk on Madras Road in Kadapa. They were unable to come out of the ashram as local authorities were not allowing vehicles out due to extensive damages to the roads. “We planned to board a bus to travel 12 kilometres from Badrinath from where we have to trek for another three kilometres to hire a vehicle to travel 25 kilometres further down to Joshimath. But officials are yet to give clearance,” Mr. Kumar said.
Tour operator G.V. Satyanarayana Gupta from Hindupur accompanied 130 pilgrims from Anantapur district. The group boarded a train on June 18 and reached New Delhi and from there they left for Badrinath in four buses via Hardwar. “We travelled 296 kilometres from Hardwar and reached Badrinath and had darshan. After we performed chandi homam on June 22 and 23, rain started lashing the area.
“Left with no other option, we rushed to Satya Nakshatra Ashram and took shelter there since then. “It’s scary to see water gushing at a depth of two kilometres abutting the narrow road on the hill. Strewn boulders and uprooted trees along the road gave us the jitters,” recalled Mr. Gupta.
Cancel Kedarnath plans
“We are waiting for clearance from the district administration in Uttarakhand to start our journey from Badrinath,” Mr. Gupta said. The group shelved plans to visit Kedarnath in a chopper fearing inclement weather. “We dropped our plans and decided to return home. We are planning to board a train on June 29 from New Delhi to reach Anantapur,” he added.
