Counting began at 8 am under multi-tier security cover. At first, postal ballots will be counted and then EVMs opened.
The Uttarakhand high court on Monday stayed the Chardham Yatra reversing a cabinet decision to open it partially for residents of three districts from July 1.
Counting of votes for the bypolls in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand will be taken up on Sunday.
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Polling was by and large peaceful in the bypolls for three Lok Sabha and seven assembly seats spread across five states and Delhi on Thursday barring an incident of stabbing of a policeman in Tripura, where polling was the highest at 76.62 per cent.
Lifting the ban on the yatra, a division bench of the court comprising Chief Justice R S Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma said the pilgrimage will start with restrictions like a daily limit on the number of devotees visiting the temples.
The bus was returning from the Gangotri shrine.
'What struck me was how content the hermit seemed in his little cave, not at all self-conscious in proclaiming that it was the grace of Shiva that had brought him to Tapovan and it was Shiva who would look after him.'
Landslides blocked roads, many villages went without electricity and the death toll climbed to 52 as authorities on Wednesday faced the aftermath of the rains that had battered Uttarakhand for over two days.
The process of opening the doors of Kedar Dham began at 3 am. Shiva Shankar Linga, the chief priest of the shrine, carried out the tradition of opening the doors. The first 'pooja' was performed in the name of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said a statement.
Work is also progressing on 17 strategic highway-cum-airstrips, three of which have been completed, he said. Besides, work is on in full swing on the Rs 12,000 crore ambitious Chardham project for providing all-weather connectivity to Gangotri, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Badrinath.
Two Russian nationals were killed and one was missing while nine of their compatriots were injured when a vehicle in which they were travelling from Gangotri to Uttarkashi plunged into the Bhagirathi river on Tuesday.
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Opposition leaders believe this entire plan has been put in place to ensure that Mamata Banerjee is kept out of office in West Bengal.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday conducted an aerial survey of rain-ravaged areas of Uttarakhand to asses the damage which the state government has pegged at Rs 7,000 crore.
Official sources said Kawadias, devotees of Lord Shiva, have been thronging Gangotri area during the last decade. On a single day in the annual Kanwad season (July-August), nearly 2,000 to 3,000 Kawadias visit the area, causing ecological concerns. Besides restricting the number of tourists to 150, the entry of mules and horses has also been banned in Gangotri area, Barfal said. To discourage tourists from visiting Gangotri regularly, the entry fee is also being hiked.
Army helicopters on Saturday rescued four Russian trekkers and four porters and guides who were trapped for some days at a height of 14,000 feet at Arbataal area near Gangotri in the Himalayas.
Governance strategies can take a back seat, but the last word hasn't been said on how the BJP leadership will address Dhami's lack of experience, reports Aditi Phadnis.
The famous Char Dham pilgrimage began on Wednesday with the reopening of the Gangotri and the Yamnotri shrines in the Garhwal Himalayas after a period of six months.
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'When you oppose a policy, you are labelled anti-government.' 'The problem is, the policymakers have never done any business in their lives.'
Landslides at Dabrani and Nalupani areas cut off Gangotri in Uttarkashi district from the rest of the country, stranding nearly 300 pilgrims in the middle of nowhere.
'My belief that I could protect the Himalayas was shattered.'
Nearly 500 pilgrims are still stranded at Gangotri in Uttarkashi district as fresh landslides triggered by heavy rains have blocked the road at Dabrani, they said.
'The Climb for a Cause' expedition to Mt Rudugaira in Gangotri glacier by Summiting4Hope, an initiative started to rehabilitate the people of Uttarakhand who lost their property and livelihood during the June 2013 floods, was the first successful expedition, post the recent flood disaster in the state. Anusha Subramanian, who was part of the team, recalls the experience.
Former Karnataka Minister Shobha Karandlaje, who returned to Bangalore after remaining stranded for four days at Rudraprayag in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, on Friday said it was a harrowing experience as her group of 1,000 pilgrims had to spend sleepless nights sandwiched between high mountains and flooded Ganga river.
With the MeT department warning of heavy showers at various places in Uttarakhand on Friday and major rivers in spate, the Chardham yatra has been suspended even as the Centre decided to provide two Mi-17 helicopters to the state to deal with any emergency.
The flood-hit religious destinations of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri, where rescue operations are underway, would again record heavy rains from Thursday, the India Meteorological Department said on Friday. It also predicted "rather heavy showers" in Hemkund Sahib, another religious destination hit by flash floods and heavy rains, from Wednesday.
The Indian Army has launched one of the biggest human rescue operations in Uttarakhand. On Thursday it mobilised troops for rescue and relief efforts, as it simultaneously reached out to over 8,000 people on all four different axes, viz, Rishikesh-Uttarkashi-Harsil-Gangotri axis; Rudraprayag -Kedarnath axis, Joshimath-Badrinath axis and Dharchhula -Tawaghat axis in Pithoragarh district, a statement said.
After rains hampered rescue operations, the Indo Tibetan Border Police Monday said it may take another three days to resume the evacuation process of stranded victims in flood ravaged hill state of Uttarakhand.
There's nothing like a trip in the hills, is there? Rediff reader Niranjan Vaidya took one and returned enriched.
The Siachen Glacier has reduced by 5.9 km in longitudinal extent between 1989 and 2009 because of rising temperatures, researchers say.
The ministry of tourism is less concerned about the impact of the floods on life and property, but is more focused on promoting tourism, says Swathi Seshadri. Anupam Chakravartty reports
An old couple, who survived the massive Uttarakhand flash floods triggered by incessant rains, said it was as if a "second life had been granted to them".
Nearly 1,000 pilgrims are stranded in various areas of Garhwal following a series of landslides in Uttarkashi and Chamoli districts.
The NGT had constituted a committee headed by a former Uttarakhand high court Judge to monitor the project.
The Uttarakhand government on Tuesday put the number of missing people in last month's tragedy at 5,360 and announced that pilgrimage to Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines will resume by September 30 even as fresh rains pounded several parts of the state and claimed 11 lives.
Heavy rain and floods in parts of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have left as many as 115 dead over the past two months, official reports said.
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