CHAMBA/BHARMOUR/SHIMLA: erupted in anger on Thursday as the Manimahesh Yatra spiraled into a humanitarian crisis.News Story:
The National Highway-154A linking Pathankot to Brahmaur has virtually collapsed into the Ravi at many places.
Long stretches of the road have been washed away, leaving nothing but gaping voids and heaps of rubble.
Massive rockslides hang loose over the route, threatening to crash down any moment.
Thousands of pilgrims trudging down from Manimahesh are now crawling across boulders and unstable slopes, inching their way through a track that is anything but a road.
“We are walking on death itself. Stones keep rolling, and no one is here to help us,” a stranded pilgrim said, gasping for breath.
On the ground, there is no sign of machines, no rescue teams, no officials—only frightened pilgrims struggling to cross one broken patch after another.
With the terrain still sliding and the road nowhere close to being restored, it could take days, if not weeks, before this crucial lifeline is made safe again.
The surging Ravi and its tributaries witnessed Flash floods, landslides, and rockslides that left thousands stranded, exposing the complete collapse of government arrangements.
Pilgrims from Jammu, Punjab, and across North India, joined by local lawyers and residents, stormed the DC office.
They shouted slogans against the DC and the state government for putting lives at risk.
“They organized the yatra but without any arrangements. We were left to suffer on our own. This is criminal negligence,” said a pilgrim who had walked back from Bharmour.
From the Bharmour base to the lake, stranded pilgrims said no official help was visible.
“For four days we had no water, no food, no medical aid. Families with children are collapsing on the way. We saw no rescue teams, no machines — only broken promises,” said another yatri.
Even the Chogaan ground in Chamba, the main congregation site, had no proper facilities. Protesters alleged abandonment.
“We came here for faith and devotion. Instead, we are returning with fear and anger. The administration has failed us at every step,” a pilgrim cried.
Revenue Minister Jagat Negi was deputed to Chamba but has not reached the disaster sites.
Bharmour MLA Dr. Janak Raj demanded urgent helicopter services to rescue the marooned and urged private or public hydropower companies like SJVN, NHPC, NTPC companies to reach out to the victims pressing into services the machines and other resources at their command.
He demanded that the state government should seek help of army, NDRF to rescue the stranded pilgrims and locals.
With roads blocked, local produce is rotting on the roadside, adding to losses.
Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri claimed that four helicopters are on standby but blamed the weather for halting sorties.
But Dr Janak Raj refuted his claims saying that only commercial chopper were there earlier, not for rescue. There is no network and connectivity in Bharmour. I am reach Chamba tomorrow and will reach Bharmour if the state helicopter is available, he said.
Meanwhile, police presence was stronger around protesters than in the disaster-hit stretches.
Ecologists have sounded a grim warning. The annual yatra has become an open invitation to disaster.
The fragile, eco-sensitive trek cannot bear the pressure of lakhs of pilgrims.
There is Chaos and unhygienic conditions at the scared lake site, said Satish Chauhan and Deepak Banchta, pilgrims who completed yatea in Early July this year
Successive governments have failed to regulate the pilgrimage or build basic facilities.
The result — unhygienic conditions at the sacred lake and repeated human tragedies.
The collapse of the Manimahesh Yatra has laid bare the insensitivity of the state government and Chamba administration.
Experts say the pilgrimage must be capped, regulated, and restructured if the sanctity of the lake — and the safety of lives — is to be preserved.
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