Dehradun: The Kedarnath yatra has been suspended till June 30 due to heavy rainfall and damaged bridges. The government of Uttarakhand has evacuated nearly 1,000 pilgrims, who were stuck, from Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib. The pilgrims were airlifted with the help of five choppers, deployed by the government.
Stranded pilgrims were moved by road to Pandukesar and nearly 650 people were airlifted from Ghaghara and 2,030 others were moved by road from Badrinath. According to officials, Joshimath-Badrinath highway is expected to function by Monday afternoon and a team of PWD was also sent to repair the damaged bridge on the trek route of Hemkund Sahib.
After the pedestrian bridges were washed away, the ITBP soldiers helped the pilgrims cross the bridges by fixing rope pulleys.
Senior IAS officer A.S. Miglani said that the Punjab Roadways buses could not reach Joshimath as they were stuck on the way near Rishikesh due to landslides. He added that the mini buses will be organised by the government to help the stranded. The buses are expected to reach the Joshimath by Monday afternoon.
