BKTC to provide rest houses for Char Dham Yatris free of cost

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], July 18 (ANI): The rest houses located on the Yatra routes of Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) will be available free of cost for accommodation to the pilgrims in case of road blockade during monsoon season, the committee officials said on Tuesday.
“Free accommodation will be provided to devotees in all rest houses of BKTC located on the yatra routes in case of road blockade till further orders,” the order issued by BKTC chairman Ajendra Ajay said. 
The decision has been taken in view of heavy rains in the state causing obstructing on the roadways.  
“It has been said in the order that at present a large number of devotees are going on pilgrimage to Shri Badrinath and Shri Kedarnath Dham even during the monsoon period. Due to heavy rains, many times the roadways are getting obstructed. In such circumstances, some devotees also have to face inconveniences of accommodation etc,” the order said.
The BKTC chairman further said that Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, has also directed that every possible help should be provided to the pilgrims in case the road gets blocked during the rainy season.
Following continuous rainfall in parts of Uttarakhand the Met Department on Tuesday issued an alert regarding possible inundation of low-lying areas and landslides in hilly areas, an official statement said. 
"Due to continuous rain/heavy rain in Koti, Mussoorie Tehsil/Block in Dehradun and Laksar Block/Tehsil in Haridwar districts, inundation of low-lying areas and landslides in hilly areas are likely to occur. People are advised to remain alert," the statement read.
Earlier on Monday, Uttarakhand State Disaster Response Force (STRF), continuously working in the Haridwar district for the rescue of people stranded in submerged houses in flooded areas of Haridwar, rescued a pregnant woman and a small girl from Laksar. 
According to officials, SDRF, and state police immediately reached the spot after receiving information about a small girl, and a pregnant woman, who was having labour pain in a house submerged due to waterlogging in Laksar police station, Adarsh ​​Nagar of district Haridwar." (ANI)