Huge landslides rolled down on Badrinath Highway

Dehradun, May 20: Unexpectedly massive landslides are rolled down from Hathi Pahar mountain and blocked the Rishikesh-Badrinath highway near Vishnuprayag in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Friday afternoon.

The landslide which occurred in Hathi Parvat near Vishnuprayag, 9-km from Joshimath, left 60 meters of the national highway damaged but there were no reports of injury to pilgrims.

The national highway has remained closed near Vishnuprayag, one of the five confluences of the Alaknanda river, between Joshimath (also known as Jyotirmath) and Badrinath.

The area between the highway and Alaknanda river was filled with debris.

While speaking to media, The District Magistrate Ashish Joshi said that the officials from the Border Roads Organisation(BRO) are engaged in clearing the roads and it could be opened for the traffic by the afternoon today.



He also said that efforts are on to "provide all possible facilities to around 1,000-1,500 pilgrims who are at Joshimath, Karnaprayag, Pipalkoti, Govindghat and Badrinath." The pilgrims have been asked to stay at these places till the highway is cleared.

Though the district administration has arranged fo the safety of travelers at various places along the way, witnesses said that it is a big landslide and the highway could take a long time to be cleared.

Due to the landslide incident, pilgrims who were on their way to Badrinath have temporarily stopped at Joshimath, Pipalkoti, and Karnaprayag, the district magistrate confirmed.