Thursday, 27 July 2023 | PNS | JOSHIMATH/DEHRADUN
Several pilgrims were stranded after the Chamoli district administration restricted the movement of the pilgrimage to Badrinath as landslides triggered by incessant rains blocked various stretches of the Badrinath National Highway (NH-7) on Wednesday. The road near Nandprayag and Karnprayag on the highway remains closed as boulders continued to fall there due to rain. The authorities were consistently working with big machines and equipment on various routes to remove boulders from the roads.
On a route near Chungi in Joshimath, a massive boulder fell on a JCB during the debris removal work on early Wednesday morning. The driver had a miraculous escape but the JCB got buried under debris and boulder after the rain started again. This delayed the work of the authorities and large number of vehicles remained stranded on both sides of the road. However, the road was finally cleared after four hours at around 9 AM by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), as per the officials. The traffic on routes near Nandprayag and Karnprayag was also resumed by the evening. Besides this, traffic also remained suspended with debris continuing to fall at many places on the Gangotri- Yamunotri National Highway due to persistent rains in the Uttarkashi district.
The district officials said that the Gangotri Highway was halted for movement at four places including Bandarkot and the Yamunotri Highway was also blocked at Silkyara and other places till late evening. The officials said that the highway was closed as boulders continued to fall at many places following heavy rainfall in the area and authorities concerned were working to resume traffic on the routes. The officials have also stated that residential buildings are under threat due to heavy landslides from below Sarnaul village in the Naugaon block of the district. They claimed that some houses have also developed cracks due to the landslide occurring from below the village. The administration is planning to conduct a geological survey of the village due to considering frequent landslides, added officials.
