Kedar Valley

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today sought to absolve himself of responsibility for human remains being found in the Kedar Valley three years after the 2013 disaster, putting the blame squarely on his predecessor Vijay Bahuguna on whose orders search operations had been winded up.

In June 2013, when the mountain came down tumbling across the Kedar Valley and the rivers breached their banks, places like Sonprayag - an important spot en-route to Kedarnath shrine - were completely destroyed.

As portals of Kedarnath in Uttarakhand closed for pilgrims for the winter with the drop in mercury on November 13, the region is still buzzing with reconstruction activity at the heart of which is a daring helicopter crew lifting loads up to 600 kg at an altitude of 11,600 feet.

It is a little over a year since a natural calamity of catastrophic proportions hit Uttarakhand but people in the affected areas are still singing paeans to the bravery of Darshan Lal who saved hundreds of lives in Kedar valley when the deluge struck.

A year after the Kedarnath tragedy, 26-year-old Poonam Tiwari still has nightmares. Her husband was among the priests at Kedarnath who are missing when flood waters came down the Kedar valley.

As the first anniversary of the flash floods which claimed thousands of lives in Uttarakhand approaching fast, authorities recovered 12 more skeletal remains and cremated them in Kedar valley today.

Early this morning, several regional residents and shop owners of Kedarnath arrived at the revered 6th century shrine along with former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. The residents had evacuated Kedarnath just after tragedy struck in June and this was the first time they managed to return.

The Kedarnath temple, the site of death and untold devastation wreaked by the flash floods in Uttarakhand almost three months ago, today observed its first puja in a symbolic opening.

No more bodies were found in the upper reaches of worst-hit Kedar Valley of Uttarakhand during the past two days, even as the third round of combing operations continued for the seventh day today.

The death toll in the Uttarkhand tragedy continues to mount with 68 more bodies believed to be of pilgrims who died of cold and starvation while trying to escape the devastating June floods being found on way to Kedarnath shrine.

Police teams in flood-hit Uttarakhand have found 71 more bodies in the higher reaches of the Kedarnath valley which were earlier inaccessible due to bad weather.

With the weather clear at most places across Uttarakhand over the past few days, 64 more bodies were found lying over the ridges in Kedar valley and cremated with necessary rituals, a senior police officer said today.

With the June calamity extensively damaging infrastructure in Kedar valley, Uttarakhand government has decided to constitute a Kedarnath Development Authority to regulate the annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan shrine along the lines of the Vaishnodevi yatra.

For more than two months now, 15-year-old Deepanshu has had trouble sleeping at night. The images of devastation he witnessed first-hand in Rambada in Uttarakhand during the flash floods in June keep haunting him.

Most places in Uttarakhand today received light rains though the river Ganga was flowing close to the danger mark, flooding some villages.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today sought to absolve himself of responsibility for human remains being found in the Kedar Valley three years after the 2013 disaster, putting the blame squarely on his predecessor Vijay Bahuguna on whose orders search operations had been winded up.

In June 2013, when the mountain came down tumbling across the Kedar Valley and the rivers breached their banks, places like Sonprayag - an important spot en-route to Kedarnath shrine - were completely destroyed.

As portals of Kedarnath in Uttarakhand closed for pilgrims for the winter with the drop in mercury on November 13, the region is still buzzing with reconstruction activity at the heart of which is a daring helicopter crew lifting loads up to 600 kg at an altitude of 11,600 feet.

It is a little over a year since a natural calamity of catastrophic proportions hit Uttarakhand but people in the affected areas are still singing paeans to the bravery of Darshan Lal who saved hundreds of lives in Kedar valley when the deluge struck.

A year after the Kedarnath tragedy, 26-year-old Poonam Tiwari still has nightmares. Her husband was among the priests at Kedarnath who are missing when flood waters came down the Kedar valley.

As the first anniversary of the flash floods which claimed thousands of lives in Uttarakhand approaching fast, authorities recovered 12 more skeletal remains and cremated them in Kedar valley today.

Early this morning, several regional residents and shop owners of Kedarnath arrived at the revered 6th century shrine along with former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. The residents had evacuated Kedarnath just after tragedy struck in June and this was the first time they managed to return.

The Kedarnath temple, the site of death and untold devastation wreaked by the flash floods in Uttarakhand almost three months ago, today observed its first puja in a symbolic opening.

No more bodies were found in the upper reaches of worst-hit Kedar Valley of Uttarakhand during the past two days, even as the third round of combing operations continued for the seventh day today.

The death toll in the Uttarkhand tragedy continues to mount with 68 more bodies believed to be of pilgrims who died of cold and starvation while trying to escape the devastating June floods being found on way to Kedarnath shrine.

Police teams in flood-hit Uttarakhand have found 71 more bodies in the higher reaches of the Kedarnath valley which were earlier inaccessible due to bad weather.

With the weather clear at most places across Uttarakhand over the past few days, 64 more bodies were found lying over the ridges in Kedar valley and cremated with necessary rituals, a senior police officer said today.

With the June calamity extensively damaging infrastructure in Kedar valley, Uttarakhand government has decided to constitute a Kedarnath Development Authority to regulate the annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan shrine along the lines of the Vaishnodevi yatra.

For more than two months now, 15-year-old Deepanshu has had trouble sleeping at night. The images of devastation he witnessed first-hand in Rambada in Uttarakhand during the flash floods in June keep haunting him.

Most places in Uttarakhand today received light rains though the river Ganga was flowing close to the danger mark, flooding some villages.