Snow in Kedarnath Has Reached Up To 38 Feet

Kedarnath Dham has been reached up to 38 feet in the last 2 months. It has been recorded that on every second day, the Dham witnesses snowfall. According to the locals, there is a still a 14 feet high snow hill which is providing a perfect skiing platform to the workers. One cannot move easily on the Kedarnath-Gaurikund pedestrian due to the snowy blanket of 8 to 10 feet high which makes it difficult for the movement. After the devastating flood in 2013, it is the first time when the region is prone to snowfall. Situated at a great elevation of around 11,500 feet above the sea level, this 11th Jyotirlingam of Lord Ashutosh has set a new record this year. In the last 2 months, snow has fallen down approx. 38 feet in this area. It is difficult to continue the reconstruction work in such an adverse climatic condition going there so the government has decided to stop the work for one and a half month. Water supply is also closed as the water pipelines have been submerged under the ice. Similarly, electricity supply has also been affected and has been cut down for one and a half month as the electric poles and wires have collapsed. Due to the shortage of electricity and water supply, it has become quite difficult for the policemen and the workers to survive in this region. If we believe these residents then it might take a burst of cold sunshine for continuous 25 days to melt down at least 60 percent of the snow and then only the leftover snow will melt down by April. It has come to notice that there is heavy snowfall in the jungle block which is spread over an area of 17 km on foot and so the movement is impossible in this area for at least one month. According to Captain Soban Singh Bisht who is the in charge of Wood Stone, the region has witnessed more snowfall in February than January. It is believed that this is the 6th time this year when the Dham has experienced snowfall continuously for more than 24 hours. If the condition goes worse and the snow doesn’t melt down soon then the ice would be melted down by limestone.

The administration has passed an order to buy 50 quintals of lime and salt to melt down those heavily accumulated snow. It is said that the goods will be supplied to the Dham through the pedestrian in the first week of April and will be placed on top of the ice. Three teams of DDMA have been sent to check the status of the pedestrian.

Statement of the Teams of DDMA

They state that it is not possible to clean the roads in Kedarnath as the region is heavily covered with scanty snowfall. After taking consideration from the Meteorological department, advance planning is getting done. It has been decided that the cleaning of snow from the pedestrian to Kedarnath Dham will commence from the first week of April. As stated above lime and salt order has already been placed to cleanse the snowy pathway.

Mangesh Ghildiyal, District Magistrate, Rudraprayag

There was quite a pleasing weather in Kedarnath where the afternoon witnesses sunny sunshine. However, in the evening there was a light rain in some of the valley areas including Rudraprayag which has resulted in the cold weather in the region.