Uttarakhand: Badrinath national highway blocked due to landslide, tourists stranded

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Badrinath national highway near Chhinka in Uttarakhand is blocked due to boulders falling from the hill, Chamoli police said, leaving many devotees and tourists stranded. The road has been blocked near Chhinka on the Badrinath National Highway, Chamoli police tweeted.

The state police had earlier warned of stones are falling from the hill near Chhinka on the Badrinath National Highway due to heavy rainfall and had appealed to the devotees to maintain traffic order and patience. Heavy rainfall had been reported over Uttarakhand this week and the weather department has predicted isolated very heavy rainfall in some places of the states during this week.

In the past one week, the Badrinath highway has been blocked on many occasions. On July 1, due to a rise in the water level in the Khachdu drain near Uttarakhand's Lambagad, the highway was closed.

Earlier on July 6, heavy rains triggered landslides and flash floods in Uttarakhand causing a landslide and blocking of Badrinath National Highway. A stretch of 100 meters of the highway was blocked due to a heavy landslide from a hill near Chhinka.