The Char Dham Yatra enroute Badrinath was stopped on Tuesday after the traffic movement on National Highway 7 was disrupted due to the fall of boulders from the hill near Panchpulia, Karnaprayag. The operation to re-open the way to resume the yatra is being carried out by the officials.
A day before the boulders incident happened, the Yatradham received heavy spells of rainfall on Monday which led the yatra to be kept on hold for a day. It was only a few hours ago that the yatra had resumed on Tuesday after better weather was observed in comparison to the previous day. However, the yatra was once again compelled to be kept to a halt after the boulders falling from Hanuman Chatti blocked the highway along with rising water levels in Lambagad drain.
The Chamoli District Magistrate informed that as soon as the weather cleared in the morning, over 114 vehicles left Badrinath on Tuesday.
Dedicated to Lord Vishnu, the Badrinath temple is one of the four pilgrimage shrines of significance for Hindus, which is located along the Alaknanda River banks on Garhwal hill tracks in the Chamoli district of Uttrakhand.
The four pilgrimage shrines are collectively referred to as “Char Dham” which includes Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath.
This year, the doors of Yatradham – Badrinath were kept open from May 8 and the officials of the state have declared the carrying capacity of the Dham is over 16,000 devotees per day. The temple is kept open for the devotees for around six months, which opens by the end of April and closes by the beginning of November.