The fourth batch of Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrims has been stopped at Dharchula base camp in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. Authorities have held them back after a road to a higher altitude point was hit by heavy boulders and debris owing to bad weather.
The batch comprises 48 pilgrims, including 14 women, from various parts of the country who have to stay put at Dharchula now. They were expected to reach Gunji yesterday, and only after a rest of two nights, they were supposed to proceed further towards Kailash Mansarovar via Lipulekh Pass.
Kailash Manasarovar Yatra organised by the Ministry of External Affairs began in June and will end in August. The Centre has allowed five batches, each comprising 50 yatris, to travel through Uttarakhand crossing over at Lipulekh Pass. From Sikkim, government has permitted 10 batches, each consisting of 50 pilgrims, to reach Mansarovar through Nathu La Pass.
“It could take five hours to clear the road after the work starts,” KMVN base camp in-charge Dhan Singh Bisht said, adding the batch would leave for Gunji only after the road clears.
“As boulders are continuing to fall down, the BRO personnel are not in a position to restore the route. The work could only be started when the shooting of boulders stops,” said Bisht.
Kailash Manasarovar Yatra organised by the Ministry of External Affairs began in June and will end in August, according to the Ministry of External Affairs portal.
The Centre allowed five batches, each consisting of 50 yatris, to travel through Uttarakhand crossing over at Lipulekh Pass, while from Sikkim, it permitted 10 batches, each consisting of 50 pilgrims, to reach Mansarovar through Nathu La Pass.
Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday said 190 people have been rescued from Uttarkashi’s Dharali village which was hit by a flash flood triggered by a cloudburst that struck the upper catchment of the Kheer Ganga river.
Talking to PTI Videos here, the chief minister said plans are being prepared to evacuate the pilgrims stuck in Gangotri Dham through Nelong Valley. “All arrangements have been made and they will be evacuated very soon,” he added.
Landslides triggered by the cloudburst have blocked arterial roads leading up to Dharali where dozens of people were trapped and many homes and cars swept away by the raging waters on Tuesday. Eleven Army personnel from the nearby camp in Harsil were among those missing.
A 28-member group of tourists, who are natives of Kerala, is also among the missing. At least half of Dharali was buried under the fast-flowing mudslide of slush, rubble and water. The village is the main stopover on the way to Gangotri, from where the Ganga originates, and is home to several hotels and homestays.
