The highway in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag area on Wednesday night was severely damaged due to heavy rains. The rescue and relief efforts to remove the stranded have begun. According to Uttarakhand police, as of Thursday, up to 737 people have been rescued by helicopter and at least 2,670 had been taken to Sonprayag by relief personnel.

Taking to its official handle on X, formerly Twitter, Uttarakhand police posted, “The rescue work of people stranded on the Shri Kedarnath Dham Yatra route is continuing. 737 passengers were rescued by helicopter throughout the day. 2,670 passengers were taken to Sonprayag. SDRF, NDRF, DDRF, District Police and Administration teams are selflessly helping the devotees.”

Notedly, IAF has started rescue operations from Kedarnath using Mi17V5 and Chinooks.

Earlier, Abhinav Kumar, Director General of Police, Uttarakhand, provided information about relief and rescue activities following severe rains in the state, urging residents and visitors to exercise caution and obey official orders. Due to severe rainfall in Tehri and Rudraprayag districts, Uttarakhand DGP Abhinav Kumar announced on Thursday that the Kedarnath Yatra has been halted for two days, and 12 NDRF and 60 SDRF teams are assisting with rescue efforts.

“We had received an alert from the Meteorological Department about heavy rains in the state for 48 hours. In view of this alert, the police, NDRF, SDRF and local administration were put on alert. After the rain started last night, we started getting reports of landslides, rock falls, etc. from various areas. Teams were sent to many places for relief and rescue. The Chief Minister visited Tehri and Rudraprayag and met the affected people. So far, 11 people have died in various districts and 8 are seriously injured. By morning, about 1000 people were stranded in Kedarnath and 800 people were stranded on the trek route of Kedarnath,” Uttarakhand Director General of Police Abhinav Kumar told ANI. 

Kumar further added that due to the weather warning, the Yatra for the next two days has been suspended. “We have restricted the movement of pilgrims on the Yamunotri and Kedarnath trek routes. The state government has taken the help of the Air Force to evacuate the people stranded in Kedarnath. NDRF 12 teams of INS and 60 teams of SDRF are engaged in rescue work,” he added.

Heavy rains in several regions of the state on Wednesday night caused significant damage to highways, footbridges, electricity and drinking water lines, and agricultural land. Kedarnath Yatra has been stopped for the time being in view of the safety of the passengers due to landslides at many places on the Kedarnath footpath. 

On Thursday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami did a ground tour of rain-affected districts in Tehri and Rudraprayag. As soon as the tragedy was reported, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami went to the State tragedy Operations Centre at night to enquire about the damage caused by torrential rains across the state. He directed the officials to keep watchful.

(with inputs from ANI)