Road infra damaged, Manimahesh pilgrims forced to walk home

Even as the administration has intensified efforts to evacuate stranded Manimahesh pilgrims, the situation on the ground remains grim in Bharmour with thousands forced to walk home after critical infrastructure was washed away in floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains earlier this week.

The Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) has deployed buses to ferry pilgrims from Kalsooni — the last point till where road connectivity exists. Officials said the number of buses would be increased further depending on the inflow of pilgrims. Beyond the stretch, men and machinery have been pressed into service to restore access to Bharmour, which remains completely cut off.

So far, 10 pilgrims have been confirmed dead during the yatra, adding to the tragedy.

“Ten pilgrims had lost their lives since August 24 when it began raining heavily in the region,” said Chamba Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Amit Mehra, underscoring the scale of the crisis.

The district administration has released lists of stranded individuals who have been accounted for and are safe. However, the absence of many names from these lists has caused panic among relatives desperately seeking information.

Locals said thousands of pilgrims remained stuck at various points along the Chamba-Bharmour route. The crisis has been compounded by snapped telecommunications, leaving families with little or no information about their loved ones.

The district police have created an emergency WhatsApp group through which information related to the affected individuals is being shared. However, the scale of the disaster is yet to be fully known as Bharmour remains cut off and essential supplies have come to a grinding halt. There is still no news from the remote villages in the tribal region, further deepening concerns about the extent of damage and hardship.

Jatin Jaswal, a resident of Chamba who had set out for the Manimahesh Yatra but had to return midway, said he managed to reach Chamba on Thursday. “The situation was quite bleak as entire stretches of road have been washed away,” he recalled. He lamented that the presence of administration and emergency response teams was virtually negligible on the ground except for a few police personnel.

The unfolding tragedy has also revived memories of the devastating 1995 cloudburst that struck the Manimahesh region, claiming scores of lives and leaving a trail of destruction. Many residents fear that the current disaster, with its widespread damage to infrastructure and the large number of stranded pilgrims, could turn out to be even larger in scale than the calamity nearly three decades ago.

Meanwhile, Mehra said the restoration of roads was being treated as a top priority. “Twenty-one buses have been deployed to evacuate pilgrims. More buses are likely to be added. As roads have been washed away people have set on foot to return home,” he said.