Uttarakhand halts Char Dham yatra over red alert for heavy rainfall, landslides blocked highway at Badrinath 

The Char Dham yatra was halted for today following a red alert issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for heavy to severe rainfall possibility in the state on July 7.

Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey postponed the pilgrimage for safety reasons. Given the forecast of heavy rainfall in Garhwal on July 7-8, pilgrims have been advised not to start their yatra beyond Rishikesh on July 7. Those already on the journey were have been wait until weather conditions improve. 

Heavy rains have triggered landslides blocking the highway to Badrinath at multiple points. Two pilgrims from Hyderabad died in a landslide near Chatwapeepal in Chamoli district on July 6 while returning from Badrinath. 

The Alaknanda river is swollen and nearing its danger mark at Vishnu Prayag near Joshimath where it meets Dhauli Ganga. 

Earlier today, heavy rainfall caused a bridge to collapse in Ramnagar. On July 5, a temporary bridge collapsed about 8-9 km ahead of Gangotri on the Gomukh trail, sweeping away at least two pilgrims and leaving several others stranded in Devgad. 

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has instructed the district magistrates of the affected areas to remain on high alert. Additionally, the CM has urged people to stay in safe locations due to potential heavy rain-related disasters. 

The CM also told Secretary of Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Vinod Kumar Suman and other disaster management officials to closely monitor all districts from the State Emergency Operations Center of USDMA. 

He instructed that any information about disasters received by the state or district emergency operation centers should be acted upon immediately. 

What IMD forecast say 

The IMD predicts “heavy to very heavy” rainfall over Uttarakhand in the next two days. It has issued a red alert for heavy rain in Nainital, Bageshwar, Champawat, Almora, Pithoragarh, and Udham Singh Nagar.  

An orange alert has been issued for Dehradun, Haridwar, Tehri, and Pauri districts, while a yellow alert is in place for Uttarkashi, Chamoli, and Rudraprayag districts.