Uttarkashi

the municipality in Uttarakhand, India

Uttarkashi, meaning Kashi of the north, is a town located in Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand, India. Uttarkashi town is headquarters of the district. Uttarkashi is also known as Somya Kashi. Uttarkashi is a Hindu religious place for spiritual and adventurous tourism. Uttarkashi town is also called as Shivnagri. The town has number of temples and ashrams. Uttarkashi is known for its religious people, weather, education. It is the district headquarters of Uttarkashi district. Uttarkashi is situated on the banks of river Bhagirathi at an altitude of 1158 m above sea level. Uttarkashi is generally known as a holy town close to Rishikesh. It is located in the state of Uttarakhand in India. Uttarkashi is home to a number of ashrams and temples and also to the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. The name of the town reflects its similarity to and location (as north of) the city of Kashi (Varanasi). Similar to Varanasi, town of Uttarkashi is situated on the Ganges, lies next to a hill named Varunavat, on confluence of two rivers Varuna and Asi, has a ghat called Manikarnika Ghat and has a temple dedicated to Shiva similar to (Kashi Vishwanath Temple) in Varanasi, in the center of the town.

Uttarkashi is located at It has an average elevation of Most of the terrain is hilly. There are many small and big rivers in Uttarkashi district. The Yamuna and the Ganges (Bhagirathi) are biggest and holiest (for Hindus) among them. The Yamuna originates from Yamunotri while Bhagirathi originates from Gangotri (Gomukh). Asi ganga and Jad ganga are some of the tributaries of the Ganges.

as of 2001 India census, Uttarkashi city had a population of 40,220. Males constitute 57% of the population and females 43%. Uttarkashi has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 59.5%. Male literacy is 83%, and female literacy is 71%. In Uttarkashi, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age. Most citizens of Uttarkashi are Garhwali, with large numbers of Punjabi, Kumaoni and people from other parts of Northern India. It also has a significant population of the Bhotiya Jadh people. People of Uttarkashi speak Hindi, Garhwali and Mahasu Pahari. After Varunawat Landslide in 2003, the rate of increase in population of the town was affected due to the migration of people to other towns and cities. As the time passed, the town boomed with the development and population growth. But the town was again severely affected by the disastrous floods in 2012 and 2013. This made most of the people to shift to the safer places like Dehradun, Haridwar and Rishikesh.

On November 12, 2023, 41 construction workers at Uttarkashi Tunnel in Uttarakhand got trapped in the tunnel due to a major tunnel collapse. The rescue started the very day. For the first two days, rescuers tried to remove the debris using excavators and prevent more debris from falling using the ‘shotcrete method’. Next, rescuers resorted to the “trenchless” technique, and an auger machine was called from Dehradun to drill through the debris and insert 900 mm wide mild steel pipes through which the workers would crawl out. For next few days, the rescuers tried various drill machines and methods to get the construction workers out. Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), stated the rescue to be successful by November 24, 2023 evening. On 28th all workers were rescued.