Heavy rain lashes Garhwal region, Kedarnath route shut for 4 hours

Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, June 28

Heavy rain lashed the Garhwal region overnight, resulting in mudslides at several places and bringing down the temperature considerably.

The Uttarkashi-Kedarnath Char Dham Yatra route was shut for around four hours early this morning near the Kutti Devi temple, besides several other linking roads, due to heavy mud accumulation.

Machines of the Public Works Department (PWD) arrived around 6 am and were able to open the road by noon.

The Mori-Netwad-Sankri road was also blocked due to debris near Saala Khud and PWD workers were making efforts to open it till the report was filed. Meanwhile, the pilgrims, fearful of a repeat of the 2013 tragedy, stopped at various junctions as soon as heavy rain started.

At Mussoorie, heavy rain led to traffic jams that lasted for several hours.

At Kempty Falls, tourists had to go through a harrowing experience. They were fleeced by private parking contractors who have mushroomed here illegally.

The entry and exit points of the private paid parking facilities being attached to the roads meant long traffic jams though the Kempty police had introduced the one-way traffic plan. Heavy rain added to the woes of tourists as they could not get out of their vehicles for more than two hours.