Uttarakhand: Falling debris and landslides lead to the blockage of Gangotri-Yamunotri National Highway

According to the police, numerous commuters, including tourists and locals, are stranded on both sides of the highway.

Uttarkashi: Traffic was stalled and disrupted on the Gangotri-Yamunotri National Highway due to the falling and piling up of debris from landslides in the region, an official said on Friday.

Sharing details of the situation, Uttarkashi District Disaster Management Officer said the Gangotri and Yamunotri National Highway was closed to traffic on Friday morning due to the landslides and falling debris at several locations in the district.

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“Traffic on the Gangotri Highway was closed due to debris falling at Dharasu, while traffic on the Yamunotri Highway came to a standstill due to landslides at several places, including Dabarkot,” said the official.

Traffic on the Yamunotri National Highway was suspended on Thursday due to the continuous falling of debris at five places of Uttarkashi, including Dabarkot and Jhar Jhar Gad.

The Chamiala-Budhakedar Motor Road has been also closed due to excessive water and debris in Chail Gadere in Lata village of Himachal Pradesh.

The District Disaster Management Officer of Tehri District, Brijesh Bhatt, said due to surging water levels of Gadere river, water and debris entered 5-6 houses.

He told that about 0.250 hectares of agricultural land, belonging to about 15-16 families, has been damaged. However, there were no reports of any loss of life. PWD Ghansali and the revenue team were at the spot overseeing the relief work.

Earlier, traffic was suspended as debris continued to fall at many places on the Gangotri-Yamunotri National Highway, as persistent rains continue to wreak havoc in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, officials said on Wednesday.

According to the Uttarkashi District Administration, the Gangotri-Yamunotri National Highway was closed to traffic as boulders continued to fall at many places following persistent rainfall in the region.

Traffic ground to a halt on Monday as boulders continued to fall at many places on the Yamunotri Highway, officials said.

District disaster management official of Uttarkashi, Devendra Patwal, said with boulders falling continuously over the last three days, traffic on both sides of the road came to a complete standstill.

According to the Chamoli police, a stretch of 60-70 metres of the Badrinath Highway, Kameda, was washed out due to intermittent rains while traffic movement on the highway was blocked.

The police added that scores of commuters including tourists and locals were stranded on both sides of the highway.