Rudraprayag: Due to heavy rains on the Kedarnath Dham Yatra route, work is going on on a war footing to restart the affected Yatra and Baba’s Darshan. On the instructions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, after the weather cleared on Thursday, the Yatra and Darshan started through heli services. Today 21 passengers reached Kedarnath Dham through heli service. However, the weather turned bad after noon, causing disruptions to the Heli service.
33 passengers rescued through MI 17 and other heli services
According to Badri-Kedar Temple Committee (BKTC) CEO Yogendra Singh, under the direction of the District Magistrate, rescue and relief operations at Kedarnath Dham have been successfully completed. Once the weather cleared on Thursday morning, around 33 pilgrims stranded in the shrine were transported to Shersi and Char Dham helipads using Air Force MI 17 helicopters and other heli services. Additionally, adequate rations and essential supplies have been delivered via helicopter. Rudraprayag DM Saurabh Gaharwar also confirmed that after the weather cleared in Kedarnath Dham, 33 pilgrims were brought down by helicopters.
Continuous landslides between Sonprayag-Gaurikund
On the other hand, there are continuous landslides between Sonprayag-Gaurikund of Kedarnath Yatra halt. Big boulders are falling from the hill here. Following a cloudburst incident occurred on 31 July, the Kedarnath trek route has been damaged at 29 places and some parts of it washed away at 16 places.
230 workers are engaged in repair work
The Public Works Department (PWD) has deployed 230 workers to repair the road. At sensitive places, workers are digging by descending into the ditch. At the same time, they are laying the foundation for the construction of the embankment by holding ropes. Vinay Jhinkwan, Executive Engineer of PWD Guptkashi, stated that 230 workers have been deployed to repair the Gaurikund-Kedarnath pedestrian route, with plans to increase this number in the coming days. Workers are encountering challenges in reconstructing areas where the path has been washed out. The work is being closely monitored by himself, the Assistant Engineer, and the Junior Engineer at all sites.
The daily rain in the region is further complicating the repair and reconstruction efforts
Repairing the entire route is expected to take about a month. In areas where the path has been completely washed out, workers are digging into the ditch to construct embankments and laying foundations with the help of ropes. Additionally, transporting stones, cement, and other materials to the affected areas is proving to be quite challenging for the workers. The daily rain in the region is further complicating the repair and reconstruction efforts. Officials have indicated that RCC embankments will be constructed at the most sensitive locations. In areas where washouts have occurred, a protective wall will be built from the lower side along with upper side cutting. Repair work has also commenced in the landslide zone near Sonprayag.