At least 100 pilgrims were trapped in Gondar near Bantoli Sangam in Rudraprayag district on Thursday night when the only bridge over the Morkhanda river collapsed after heavy rainfall.

The pilgrims were there to offer prayers at the Kedar Madhyamaheshwar temple, which devotees link with the Mahabharat period, claiming that the Pandavas had visited it after the Kurukshetra war.

Purushottan Uniyal, the president of the Purohit Mahasabha, said: “Heavy rainfall led to a series of landslides. Besides the wooden bridge, rain and boulders damaged a portion of the temple, including its office and kitchen.”

Sub-divisional magistrate Mukesh Chandra Ramola said the pilgrims and the temple employees were safe but some properties had been damaged. “We have deployed helicopters to airlift the trapped people,” he said.

A ₹67-crore under-construction bridge was swept away in Narkot near Gondar last year.

Gondar panchayat chief Veer Panwar said the villagers had alerted the administration a few months ago to build a bridge on a war footing before the monsoon.

“The government doesn’t listen to us and puts the lives of the people in danger every year. A steel bridge collapsed here last year. Since then, the temporary bridge has been in use. We had met the local officers and handed them an application that this bridge could collapse anytime but they ignored our apprehension. What happened could have been worse,” Panwar told reporters over the phone from Dehradun.

“A helicopter has arrived near the village and we hope the pilgrims will be rescued by Saturday. But the government should also think about us as we are stuck in our village and cannot go anywhere,” he said, adding that the nearest road to their village was 16km away.

The state disaster management force said in a press release that a team had reached the site. The pilgrims, who were stuck in groups at different locations in Gondar, would be rescued soon.

“An SDRF team led by inspector Aniruddh Bhandari has reached Nanu (5km from Gondar) in a helicopter. There are 25-30 people stuck there. We are gradually shifting the pilgrims to safer places. Another SDRF team has walked up to Gondar and will start the rescue operation,”
the release said.