On Camera, Narrow Escape For Workers Clearing Badrinath Highway

Dehradun:

Workers clearing the Badrinath highway had a narrow escape this morning as boulders fell from a mountain, showed a video from Uttarakhand’s Chamoli. The workers rushed down the hill seeing the rocks sliding down, averting a major tragedy.

The Badrinath National Highway, which links the pilgrim site of Badrinath, remains closed for over 48 hours after two major landslides in Chamoli, stranding thousands of travellers.

A landslide at Patalganga led to rubble pileup at the mouth of a tunnel on the Badrinath National Highway on Wednesday. This damaged parts of the tunnel and led to a highway closure.

The highway was cleared and opened at Patalganga this morning, but it still remains closed near Joshimath where a landslide had blocked the Patal Ganga Langsi tunnel.

“Badrinath Highway 07 is blocked due to heavy debris falling from the hill on the road in Bhanerpani, Joshimath,” Chamoli District Magistrate (DM) Himanshu Khurana told ANI yesterday.

Travellers, however, are able to cross the area on foot.

A video shared by the state police showed disaster response force personnel helping travellers cross a road that was partly washed away.

The landslide has ripped connectivity with Badrinath, Joshimath, Niti, Mana, Tapovan, Malari, Lata, Raini, Pandukeshwar, and Hemkund Sahib. Over 2,000 travellers and pilgrims heading towards or returning from Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib remain stranded on the highway.

The Border Road Organization (BRO), which is clearing the road at Joshimath, has deployed 241 excavators to remove the debris.

In total, over 260 roads are closed in Uttarakhand due to rain and landslides. Chardham pilgrims have been advised to be cautious in view of heavy rain alert in five districts.