Kedarnath, May 8: Sudden snowfall in Uttrakhand claimed three lives on Tuesday. Hundreds of pilgrims, including former chief minister Harish Rawat and Rajya Sabha member Pradeep Tamta, were also stranded in Kedarnath.

According to a report published in Hindustan Times, Sudama Singh, (52) a pilgrim from Mumbai, and Janki Devi (61) a pilgrim from New Delhi died of heart attack, in Uttarakhand’s Yamnotri and Kedarnath shrines respectively. A Nepalese porter identified as Akash died in an avalanche near Kedartal in Uttarkashi during trekking. The district administration claimed that 35 other members of the trekking team were safe. “We have sent three teams to rescue the stranded trekkers,” the Hindustan Times report quoted Ashish Srivastava, district magistrate as saying.

According to Rudraprayag’s district magistrate Mangesh Ghildiyal, around 4,200 pilgrims on the Kedarnath route moved towards Gaurikund after the snowfall. State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) jawans, local police and the administration are helping the pilgrims to come down to Gaurikund. Helicopter services were disrupted because of five inches of snowfall at Kedarnath.

Snowfall was also reported in Badrinath, but no pilgrims were stranded there. All the pilgrims were transported to safer locations by the administration. The meteorological department has issued a warning that Uttrakahand is likely to witness more rains and storms in the hilly region in the next 24 hours.

Former chief minister of the state Harish Rawat, Tamta, local MLA Manoj Rawat and former member of the legislative council Prithvi Pal Singh started a trek to the Kedarnath shrine from Gaurikund in Rudraprayag district on Sunday. Rajya Sabha MP Tamata blamed state’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for not proving proper facilities to pilgrims. Speaking to Hindustan Times over the phone, Tamata said, “The government put out enough propaganda about the Kedar Yatra and even introduced a laser show for it but ignored the convenience of an ordinary pilgrim who prefers going to Kedarnath on foot from Gaurikund.”

Home Minister Rajnath Singh called Uttrakhand’d Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and took stock of the situation. Landslides were also reported at several places in the state that disrupted traffic. Dehradun also witnessed a storm around midnight. Haridwar and Nainital also received rains accompanied by speedy winds on Tuesday morning.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 08, 2018 11:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).