Kedarnath Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand stopped, roads closed amid heavy rains

The Kedarnath Yatra has been stopped at Uttarakhand's Sonprayag and Gaurikund due to continuous heavy rains, informed officials on Wednesday.

In view of the safety of the passengers, the district administration stopped the passengers at Sonprayag and Gaurikund due to continuous bad weather.

Due to rain, 4 state roads and 10 link roads are closed due to debris. Due to heavy rains, Mandakini and Alaknanda rivers are in spate, the officials said.

Amid the heavy rains in Uttarakhand, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for July 12 on Monday.

"Orange Alert: #Uttarakhand and adjoining areas of Western #UttarPradesh likely to get Heavy to Very heavy rainfall (115.6 to 204.4mm) on 12th July", IMD shared in a tweet.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday said that the state administration is on full alert mode in view of the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) heavy rainfall alert in the region.

Talking about the precautionary arrangement made in the state, CM Dhami said, "Every year during monsoon time here, we have to face natural calamities. There are landslides due to excessive precipitation, and the water level of the rivers increases. We are in full alert mode. All district administration officials and those in our disaster management are doing their work. All of them have been asked to stay in alert mode to face any situation. Our other organizations are also working on this. NDRF, Army, and our PWD department are all ready to face any situation and we are constantly in touch with the people to help them in any situation."

On Tuesday, four persons died and 10 people were injured due to falling debris on Gangotri National Highway near Gangnani in Uttarakhand.