Chardham Yatra begins; recalling Kedarnath tragedy in PICS

All preparations are complete with the road from Rudraprayag to Joshimath on way to Badrinath fully black-topped and the snow-clogged highway leading to the Himalayan shrine cleared of snow and opened to traffic, chief secretary Subhash Kumar said. The damaged stretch at Bhimtalla has been repaired but some work remains to be done on a 300 metre patch from Joshimath to Lambhagad Binakoli.