Fresh landslides  have brought Chardham yatra to a complete halt on Friday in Uttarakhand.

The yatra comprising pilgrimage to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri Yamunotri shrines, has been halted completely with thousands of pilgrims being stranded at a number of places.

Special arrangements are being made to provide food packets to the stranded pilgrims, who are being advised not to venture out in the landslide-prone areas.

Heavy rains have lashed Uttarakhand during the past five days, destroying hundreds of houses in Garhwal region and giving sleepless nights to the people, who fear that landslides might destroy their houses.

Landslides have occurred at a number of places with rains already claiming 50 lives in the state so far.

Flood Control Minister M S Kandari here said efforts are being launched to reopen the highways to Badrinath, and Gangotri in Garhwal region which were blocked by landslides at Beasi, Peepalkoti and Narendra Nagar and other areas.

The water-level in the rivers Ganga and Yamuna has started rising menacingly and was hovering around the danger level at places like Rishikesh, Devprayag and Haridwar, with threat of more floods in the plains of UP looming large.

River Sharda in Kumaon region was also flowing above the danger level which is likely to cause inundation in Piliphit district of UP in the plains.

Earlier, people heaved a sigh of relief on Thursday after danger caused by formation of an artificial lake at the Alaknanda river  completely subsided.

A red alert was sounded on Wednesday night when a glacier rolled down following heavy rain into Alaknanda river  near Mana village at Chamoli.