New Delhi: The Char Dham Yatra to Kedarnath was halted on Monday amid heavy rains and snowfall in Uttarakhand and an orange alert was also issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Devotees who reached the Dham continued to have darshan throughout the day, but thousands of pilgrims were stopped from place to place from the district headquarters to Gaurikund. In view of the forecast of rain till Tuesday, the administration has appealed to the travelers to stay where they are and to be vigilant.
"After the orange alert & incessant rain since morning, we have stopped devotees on foot & have been urging them to return to their hotels... do not hike to the temple for now & stay safe," said Rudraprayag CO Pramod Kumar.
Helicopter services to Kedarnath were largely affected on Monday due to bad weather. Helicopters took off for Kedarnath from 7 am to 7.35 am from Guptkashi, Maikhanda and other helipads, but after that the heli service was closed in the afternoon due to rain and fog.
"An orange alert is on for tomorrow as well. We have stopped around 5,000 people from Guptkashi. Heli services are also closed for now," he added.
On Monday, 8530 passengers were left for Kedarnath from Sonprayag till 8 am, but after that, the administration stopped the journey with immediate effect due to heavy rain and dense fog in Kedar Ghati Kedarnath. During this, five thousand passengers were stopped from place to place from Rudraprayag to Guptkashi. At the same time, 2000 passengers were stopped in Sonprayag and 3200 in Gaurikund.