More than 350 pilgrims heading towards Adi Kailash were stopped at the Dharchula base camp in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district on Friday after a landslide blocked the route to Gunji, disrupting the ongoing pilgrimage. The landslide occurred at Mangti nullah during the previous night, leaving the road inaccessible and preventing pilgrims from proceeding towards the high-altitude pilgrimage destination, officials said.

Dhan Singh Bisht, in-charge of the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) base camp at Dharchula, said the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) had cleared snow from the stretch between Kuti and Jolingkong two days earlier. The clearance had allowed vehicles to travel towards the Adi Kailash temple and enabled some groups of pilgrims to reach areas near Jolingkong for darshan of the sacred peak.

The fresh landslide, however, suddenly disrupted the route despite the earlier road clearance. Bisht said an eight-kilometre stretch of the route was still covered by heavy snow, reflecting the difficult conditions along the pilgrimage corridor. Despite the weather and road challenges, pilgrims remained enthusiastic about continuing their journey, while the process of issuing inner-line permits had also resumed.

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The disruption comes as authorities continue to manage pilgrimage movement through the mountainous region, where snow and road conditions can affect access to Adi Kailash. With more than 350 pilgrims held back at Dharchula, their onward movement will depend on restoration of the blocked road and prevailing conditions along the route to Gunji and beyond.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Dehradun said the southwest monsoon is likely to withdraw from Uttarakhand within the next 24 hours as weather conditions become favourable for its retreat. IMD officials said seasonal rainfall had already begun withdrawing from northwest India, paving the way for the monsoon to retreat from the hill state.

Uttarakhand experienced largely dry weather in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Friday, with 12 of the state’s 13 districts recording no rainfall. Bageshwar received 0.8 mm of rain against a normal 0.7 mm. The IMD forecast dry conditions across Uttarakhand over the weekend, with isolated morning fog in the plains. Rain activity is expected to return from Monday, followed by light to moderate rainfall at several places from Tuesday and potentially widespread rain, including heavy showers at some locations, on Wednesday.

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