Uttarakhnad: Bridge on Jyotirmath-Malari highway washed away

Heavy rains washed away a motorable bridge on the Jyotirmath-Malari highway in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, cutting off over a dozen villages. Landslides also blocked key highways to Badrinath and Kedarnath. No casualties have been reported, officials said

Gopeshwar: A motorable bridge on the Jyotirmath-Malari highway in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district got washed away due to heavy rains, severing connectivity to more than a dozen villages in the border area of the Niti Valley.

Heavy rains in the upstream swelled the seasonal Tamak stream, and its gushing waters damaged the bridge around 2 am on Sunday, said district administration officials.

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There is no report of any loss of life in this incident that occurred in this area located on the banks of Dhauliganga, a tributary of the Alaknanda river.

Meanwhile, the Badrinath National Highway has been closed after debris accumulated at two places — Bhanirpani and Paaglanala — between Chamoli and Jyotirmath. The district administration said that debris is being removed with machines to restore traffic on the route.

The Kund-Chamoli National Highway connecting Kedarnath to Chamoli is also blocked due to a landslide near Bairagana, and efforts are on to open it.