Nature’s wrath was witnessed for the second day in a row, this time in Himachal Pradesh, as a cloudburst in Kinnaur led to flood-like conditions in the district on Wednesday.
This comes a day after a cloudburst
in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi caused flash floods yesterday, killing at least four people.
In Kinnaur, persistent heavy rainfall damaged several sections of the Kinnaur Kailash Yatra route, forcing the authorities to suspend the Yatra from today.
Many devotees were stranded as roads and highway routes were affected. The stranded pilgrims will be evacuated via the Purvani route, officials said.
A horrific video surfaced, showing water cutting through the cliffs.
Bridges over the Tanglippi and Kangrang streams have been washed away due to strong currents caused by the rain and floods, they said.
The IMD has issued warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall in the next 12 hours at isolated places in the districts of Chamba, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kullu, Lahaul-Spiti, Mandi, Una, Bilaspur, Kinnaur, Solan, Shimla, and Sirmaur.
The authorities also cautioned that most of the trekking paths on the Yatra route have become extremely slippery or affected by landslides, and therefore they pose a risk to the safety of the pilgrims.
The Kinnaur Kailash Yatra is temporarily suspended until further orders, and registrations for the Yatra have also been closed.
