Two pilgrims die on opening day of Chardham Yatra-2026
Two pilgrims participating in the Chardham Yatra died on Sunday, the opening day of the 2026 pilgrimage season, reportedly due to suspected asphyxia.
Two pilgrims participating in the Chardham Yatra died on Sunday, the opening day of the 2026 pilgrimage season, reportedly due to suspected asphyxia.
A two - wheeler and a car were also damaged in the collision, a police spokesman said.
Gangasagar Island continued to witness an overwhelming influx of pilgrims on Thursday, the second day of the holy bath following the main Makar Sankranti Shahi Snan, as the auspicious period extended this year.
The direction follows the massive landslide triggered by incessant rains in which 35 devotees lost their lives at Adhkuwari, Katra, on 26 August 2025, allegedly due to criminal negligence of the officials.
The authorities have identified 20 of those dead. The victims were from across the country, officials said.
Flash floods hit the Kashmiri village of Chosoti on August 14, where pilgrims were on their way to the shrine of Machail Mata.
The Kailash pilgrimage is in the Bhaderwah sub-division of Doda with a 21-km difficult trek.
Almost identical statements, a decade apart, by Chief Ministers of two different political parties, reveal the crux of the problem – a flawed development model, imagined and implemented for Uttarakhand. Successive Governments have tried to stimulate economic activity through tourism and massive infrastructure projects. Such misplaced zeal for development has made the Government brush aside environmental concerns.
A long march by Shia pilgrims protesting the federal government's ban on overland travel to the shrines of Iran and Iraq was halted by Balochistan police at the Hub River Bridge, near the Sindh-Balochistan border, The Balochistan Post reported.
At least six pilgrims, comprising two children, were killed and five people have gone missing after an overloaded mini-truck carrying 25 people fell into the swollen Sirhind canal in Punjab’s Ludhiana district, police said on Monday.
