Landslide Near Kedarnath Pilgrimage Route Claims Three Lives, Eight Injured

GG News Bureau
Rudraprayag, 22nd July. A landslide near Chidwasa on the Kedarnath pilgrimage route in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district caused the deaths of three individuals and injuries to eight others on Sunday morning.

The landslide occurred at approximately 7:30 am, about 3 kilometers ahead of Gaurikund on the footpath leading to Shri Kedarnath Dham. Debris and stones fell from the hill, striking pedestrians who were en route to the Kedarnath shrine.

The victims, all devotees traveling from Gaurikund to Kedarnath, were caught in the landslide, which led to an immediate rescue operation. The injured were promptly taken to a nearby health center in Gaurikund, while rescue efforts continued to check for any additional individuals trapped under the debris.

The deceased have been identified as:

• Kishore Arun Parate, 31, from Nagpur, Maharashtra
• Sunil Mahadev Kale, 24, from District Jalna, Maharashtra
• Anurag Singh, 22, from Rudraprayag

The injured include:

• Chela Bhai Chaudhary, 23, from Gujarat (head injury)
• Jagdish, 45, from Gujarat (leg fracture)
• Abhishek Chauhan, 18, from Goundi, District Jalna, Maharashtra (head injury)
• Dhaneshwar Pandey, 27, from Maharashtra (head injury)
• Hardana Bhai Patel, from Gujarat (minor hand injury)

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami responded to the incident via Twitter, expressing sadness over the tragedy. “The news of some pilgrims getting injured due to debris and heavy stones falling from the hill near the Kedarnath Yatra route is very sad. Relief and rescue work is ongoing at the site of the accident. I am in constant touch with officials and have instructed to provide better treatment to the injured immediately,” Dhami said.

The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team, led by Inspector Aniruddh Singh Bhandari, managed the rescue operations and handed over the deceased’s bodies to the district police.