No Kedarnath-Badrinath pilgrimage for three years

A view of Kedarnath from a helicopter after a flood, in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, India, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. Monsoon torrential rains have cause havoc in northern India leading to flash floods, cloudbursts and landslides as the death toll continues to climb and more than 1,000 pilgrims bound for Himalayan shrines remain stranded. (AP Photo

Pilgrimage to the shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath in Uttarakhand cannot resume for three years due to extensive damage caused by heavy rains and floods, an official said Thursday.

Officials of the two shrines say the two places have been so badly devastated that there was nothing "but mud, devastation and death" around the highly revered temples visited by millions.

B.D. Singh, chief executive Officer of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee, told IANS that the chances of reviving the pilgrimage "for the next few years" was grim.
"What we are seeing is very painful and unbelievable," he said. "We don't  expect the Char Dham Yatra to resume in the next three years."

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