A landslide occurred in Dehradun on Friday afternoon leaving nearly 14,000 pilgrims stranded in different areas of the Chamoli district.
The massive landslide started at Hathi Parvat near Vishnuprayag, 9 Km from Joshimath. The landslide damaged 60 meters of the Rishikesh Badrinath highway. Fortunately, there have been no casualties or injuries reported.
Superintendent of Police at Chamoli, Tripti Bhatt reported, “After the landslide, at least 1,183 pilgrims were stopped in Govindghat, 900 at Joshimath and 450 at Pandukeshwar from moving ahead. They have been accommodated in nearby hotels, lodges, gurdwaras and guest houses. Around 11,000 pilgrims were at Badrinath for darshan at the time of the calamity.”
The District Magistrate Ashish Joshi informed that arrangements for the stranded are being made. He also mentioned the yatra is still underway.
The vehicles that were on their way back from Badrinath were forced to return to the shrine. While the ones going towards the shrine had to return to Joshimath and Govindghat. The administration has provided temporary lodging and boarding for the pilgrims.
The Superintendent also reported, “The hotels, ashrams and other establishments near Badrinath can house at least one lakh pilgrims so there is no cause of worry.” They have also stopped a number of vehicles at Rishikesh until the highway is open for traffic.
Border Roads Organization (BRO) Commandant, Colonel Rama Subramanian said, “Big boulders rolled down from the mountain with a deafening thud on Friday at 2 P.M. There is a lot of debris on the road. It seems that it will take at least until Saturday for vehicles to be able to travel on the highway.”
The BRO spokesperson, Colonel P.H. Sharma has informed that the earth-movers have been called to clear up the debris as soon as possible.
The situation is being monitored by disaster management secretary, Amit Negi. Vinod Sharma, Garhwal commissioner is making his way to Chamoli to take charge of the situation.
