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Thirty-two Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims, who were stuck in Pithoragarh due to heavy rainfall, were moved to base camp village Gunji on an Indian Air Force chopper on Wednesday.
Due to damaged trek condition, this year chopper service is being provided to the pilgrims. The process of moving the visitors from Pithoragarh to Gunji began on 30 June.
Twenty-eight Yatris of the fifth batch were taken to Gunji on 30 June, but the whole operation got affected due to rains. The remaining 32 participants were waiting for the weather to clear and on Wednesday their prayer was finally answered.
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Dinesh Gururani, nodal officer for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra on Indian side and manager of KMVN, said, “The members had to wait for four days for the weather to clear. Today 32 members of the fifth batch were moved to Gunji.”
Heavy rainfall has created trouble for many Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims from India in Nepal. But the inclement weather has failed to affect the journey through the traditional Lipulake trek road in a big way this season.
The Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN), a tourism unit of Uttarakhand government, conducts the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage on the Indian side.
After Gunji the participants have to walk about 27 km, before crossing the Indian borders to move into Chinese territory. Uttarakhand government is keen on developing the roads on route to Kailash Mansarovar but flash-floods in 2013 and again in 2017, the trek route got damaged.
Considering the poor condition of the trek route, chopper service was introduced this time. Otherwise, helicopters were used only in the time of crises.
With news about Indian, attending Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, getting stranded in Nepal, Uttarakhand government on Tuesday announced that all the pilgrims going to Kailash Mansarovar yatra are safe.
Last year 919 pilgrims completed the tour of Kailash Mansarovar. The figure touched an all-time high since the Yatra started in 1981. Annually about 800 persons used to go to Mansarovar, but in 2017 the attendance created a new record.
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