Over 3,000 Char Dham yatra pilgrims stranded after Yamunotri highway caves in

Caving in of a 15-metre stretch of Yamunotri Highway between Rana Chatti and Sayana Chatti on Wednesday night led to an interruption in yatra towards Yamunotri Dham, officials said adding that over 3000 pilgrims were stranded on both sides of the highway.

Only small vehicles were able to pass through from Barkot to Jan ki Chatti while the movement of buses and other heavy vehicles was suspended, leaving thousands of pilgrims stranded on both sides of the road, said disaster management officials in Uttarkashi.

Around 24 buses and over 15 minibuses of pilgrims stopped, and the stranded pilgrims were taken to safe shelters in ashrams and nearby guest houses around Sayana Chatti, said the DDMA officials.

The Rishikesh-Gangotri Highway number 108, Vikas Nagar- Barkot national Highway 123, Chinaylai Saud-Suvakholi, Uttarkashi-Lamgaon-Srinagar and Mussoorie-Dehradun roads are, however, open for vehicular movement, said officials.

Meanwhile, the total tally of deaths during the Char Dham yatra due to cardiac arrest and other medical reasons has reached 48 so far. 

Of these 48, Yamunotri and Gangotri have so far reported 19 deaths, including 15 deaths at Yamunotri and 4 at Gangotri.

At Badrinath, 8 deaths have been reported so far while the tally of deaths at Kedarnath has reached 21 with one death reported on Thursday morning at Kedarnath, said BK Shukla, chief medical officer (CMO), Rudraprayag.

Over 6.5 lakh pilgrims have visited the four shrines so far. 

The number of pilgrims who reached Kedarnath was 16,788 on Wednesday taking the total tally to 233,711. 

According to the government data released on Wednesday, 188,346 pilgrims visited Badrinath, 106,352 at Yamunotri and 130,855 at Gangotri.