Kedarnath: Heavy rains have severely damaged the route in the Rudraprayag district on Wednesday night.

The rescue and relief work to evacuate the people stranded is underway. According to the Uttarakhand police, as many as 737 people were rescued by helicopter and at least 2,670 ppeople were taken to Sonprayag by the relief forces as of Thursday.

Taking to its official handle on X, 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,” read the post.

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,” he said.

“Due to the weather warning, we have suspended the Yatra for the next two days. 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.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also conducted a ground inspection of the rain-affected areas in Tehri and Rudraprayag on Thursday. Heavy rains in various parts of the state on Wednesday night have caused heavy damage to roads, footbridges, power and drinking water lines, as well as agricultural land.