PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Jyotirmath
With just 10 days left for the portals of Badrinath Dham to reopen, the Badrinath National Highway remains in a deplorable condition with the stretch from Jyotirmath to Marwadi found littered with debris and potholes at many locations. This could pose difficulties for pilgrims during the upcoming pilgrimage season, fear the locals.
Things are really grim, for the highway has caved in near Zero Bend, known for its land subsistence vulnerability. Notably, this spot last year saw persistent traffic congestion during the pilgrimage season. The state of the spot remains the same this year too with no initiative undertaken to fill the gaping potholes and repair the damaged parts of the sensitive stretch. People living nearby fear that the pilgrims are going to face the same traffic logjam for hours during this year’s yatra too. “Heaps of debris remain un-cleared along the roadside; traffic coming from both directions are likely to be affected,” said an anguished local, lamenting the administration’s indifference to the ordeal the pilgrims might face once again during the yarta.
Told about the traffic ordeal fear expressed by the people, the deputy district magistrate, Chandrashekhar Vashishtha said that the Border Roads Organisation has been instructed to repair the highway before the pilgrimage begins.
