Bad weather hampers Kedarnath Yatra

Yatra temporarily called off till evening of May 12 as a precaution

Snowfall in Kedarnath and in the area around 4 kms ahead of the shrine, on Sunday, hampered the Yatra to the shrine. Rudraprayag District Magistrate Raghav Langer said, “There is around 5 to 6 inches of fresh snowfall in the Kedarnath area. We have temporarily called off the Yatra till the evening of May 12 as a safety precaution. On May 13 we will decide whether we should allow the Yatra to proceed.”

The pilgrims will not be allowed to move beyond Sonprayag till Monday evening. Mr. Langer said around 574 pilgrims were in the Kedarnath Valley when the decision to call off the Yatra was taken on Sunday morning at 6. Most of the pilgrims in the Valley were returning from the shrine. On Sunday afternoon the authorities asked them to stay at the nearest halting points. “Whenever the weather condition is becoming favourable, the Police and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel are escorting the pilgrims to make sure they safely return to Sonprayag,” Mr. Langer said.

Most of the pilgrims have safely returned from

>Kedarnath and by Sunday evening only eight pilgrims remained in Kedarnath, he said. Director of the Dehradun Meteorological Centre Anand Sharma said, “In the next two days there is a possibility of snowfall at higher reaches like Kedarnath. Rainfall and thunderstorm can be expected in Badrinath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri [till Tuesday].”