Kedarnath Yatra plan being put off for a week due to Bad Weather

Bhimashankar Ling, Kedarnath Temple’s chief priest has advised the devotees on Sunday who is making plans to visit the shrine, to put a hold on their plan for a week due to the poor weather and road conditions leading toward the temple. Rawal, the chief priest said that the journey at present can be dangerous and risky but it can be hoped that things will be fine very soon as the snow is melting and the work of the pedestrian route to Kedarnath on Linchauli is pacing up.

From Ukhimath by the chief priest that the slopes to Kedarnath on the Linchauli route are very steep that they can cause many problems. In that area, snow is very still and wet soil. 7-8 more days are required to complete the road and so the pilgrims are advised to put a hold on their Kedarnath journey for a week at least the state government, although is working to construct and repair the roads over time, still, everything at present is not in place completely. In this area, no operators of mules are found this year and only state government facilities are available there.

On Sunday, the Kedarnath Yatra stopped the following snowfall there and in the nearby areas. The SP of Rudraprayag, Barinderjit Singh told that the entire valley of Kedarnath has received snowfall since morning which brought a halt to the Yatra and the devotees moving ahead were asked to wait and be at Sonprayag for the poor weather to get cleared and then they can resume.

In an area of 4 kms from the shrine, snowfall was seen in Kedarnath on Sunday which hampered the pilgrim’s Yatra towards it. The District Magistrate of Rudraprayag, Raghav Langer told that there are about 5-6 inches of snowfall in an area of Kedarnath and they have temporarily stopped the Yatra for the safety of the pilgrims till the 12th May evening. On 13th May, they decided whether or not to precede the Yatra. The Char Dham Yatra 2022 thereby coming to a standstill for the time being.

Till the evening of Monday, the pilgrims were not be given permission to go beyond Sonprayag. Mr. Langer told that about 574 devotees were there in the valley of Kedarnath when they decided to put a halt on the Yatra at 6 on the morning of Sunday. Most of them were coming back from the temple. The authorities on Sunday asked the pilgrims to wait at any nearest point and halt there. Mr. Langer told that whenever the conditions of the weather are becoming favorable, the pilgrims are being escorted by the (SDRF) State Disaster Response Force personnel and the police to ensure that the pilgrims return safely to Sonprayag. He said that many pilgrims have returned safely from Kedarnath and only 8 pilgrims remained there by evening on Sunday.

Anand Sharma, Dehradun Meteorological Centre’s Director said that in the coming 2 days there will a chance of snowfall reaching a higher level than Kedarnath. Thunderstorms and rainfall are expected at Gangotri, Yamunotri, and Badrinath.