Uttarakhand’s sacred Char Dham Yatra has once again been disrupted by the fury of nature, as landslides triggered by heavy rainfall wreaked havoc on both the Yamunotri and Badrinath routes. On Monday, three pilgrims lost their lives, one remained missing, and three others sustained injuries in two separate incidents. The first landslide occurred at Nau Kainchi near Bhairav temple on the Yamunotri path—just 1.5 km from Kedarnath—where massive boulders crashed onto the pedestrian track. Teams from SDRF, NDRF, and local police launched urgent rescue operations to clear the area and locate the missing pilgrims.
Among the injured was a Mumbai pilgrim, Rasik, who was pulled out alive from under the debris and rushed to a local health centre. His testimony revealed that a 12-year-old girl from Delhi, Bhavika, and another man were also trapped—both later found deceased. Tragically, one of the bodies recovered was so mutilated that even gender identification was impossible. Meanwhile, another rockfall on the Badrinath Highway near the Patalganga tunnel struck a car returning from Badrinath, instantly killing a 36-year-old woman from Fatehabad, Haryana, and injuring two family members, including a child. Inspector Karn Singh led the intensive rescue operation in Chamoli district.
These back-to-back tragedies have sparked concern over pilgrim safety in the Himalayan region, especially as unstable weather and heavy rains continue to plague Uttarakhand. SDRF officials warned that the region has been witnessing repeated rockfall incidents and urged extreme caution. The Badrinath National Highway (NH-54) was blocked near Pipalkoti for over six hours, with one-way traffic resuming later in the day. With Chamoli tehsil recording 93.66 mm rainfall—the highest in the district—the risk of further landslides remains critical. Just days earlier, two tourists from Hyderabad were killed when boulders struck their motorcycle near Chatwapeepal. Pilgrims and tourists are now being urged to postpone or reroute their journeys until conditions stabilize.
