Dehradun, Aug. 3 (PTI): Heavy rains continued to lash many parts of Uttarakhand with Ganga and Yamuna rivers rising alarmingly as pilgrimage to Badrinath, Hemkund and Gangotri temples remained suspended, and thousands of pilgrims stranded for the second day Thursday, following landslides at number of places.

Following heavy rains in the catchment areas, water level in the two rivers was hovering around the danger mark in a number of places like Rishikesh, Devprayag and Haridwar.

Meanwhile, the danger caused by formation of an artificial lake at Alaknanda river in Chamoli district has completely subsided, officials said.

A red alert was sounded Wednesday evening when a glacier suddenly rolled down into the river near Mana village which formed the artificial lake upstream of the river.

The glacier then broke down releasing all the water. But by Thursday, most of the water has already flown into the river.

Officials in the Disaster Management and Mitigation Centre here said efforts are on to re-open the highways to Badrinath, Hemkund and Gangotri in Garhwal region, blocked by landslides at a number of places including Beasi, Peepalkoti and Narendra Nagar.

Thousands of pilgrims were stranded at a number of places as major areas of Garhwal remained cut-off, police sources said.

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

MeT Director, Anand Sharma, said the hill resort of Nainital recorded 56 mm of rains since Wednesday.

Flood photos