DEHRADUN: The local administration has stopped all traffic going from Rishikesh towards Char Dham until further notice. After the Yatra routes connecting Kedarnath and Badrinath were closed due to bad weather and landslides, police alerted the pilgrims at the Brahmapuri check post and stopped them from proceeding further.
Meanwhile, the Badrinath highway was closed on Sunday morning due to heavy debris near Bajpul, Chada, Pinaula and Tayapul near Chamoli market. This caused a halt in yatra to Badrinath Dham.
Vehicular traffic on this route has been temporarily diverted via the Nandprayag-Sekot-Kothialsen route.
“The work of clearing the debris at the places where the road has been blocked due to landslides is going on continuously and the traffic is expected to be smooth soon,” Joshimath Sub Divisional Magistrate Kumkum Joshi told this newspaper.
According to administrative sources, “Pilgrims will now have to wait till May 3 to go on Kedarnath Yatra. On Sunday, pilgrims kept gathering information about the registration for Kedarnath at the registration counter throughout the day and later registered for the remaining three dhams — Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri.”
Chardham Yatra registration in-charge Premanand said that due to bad weather, the registration of Kedarnath Yatra was stopped from April 25 to 30 on the orders of the government. Due to the lack of clear weather, the government has extended this ban on registration till May 3.
At the same time, the work of removing debris from the highway has been started, as a result of which traffic has been stopped at Badrinath Dham near Marwari Bridge. Due to the disruption of the Yatra route, devotees had to wait on the road for hours and faced a lot of problems in arranging food and water.