DEHRADUN: The Joshimath-Malari-Niti highway, which connects the China border adjoining Chamoli, has been blocked near Niti village amid continuous landslides and blocking of the route on the Char Dham Yatra route.
On Thursday evening, the Badrinath road, blocked by a fallen rock near Helang, was opened only on Friday morning when the second incident created more difficulties for the administration.
“A rock broke down on Friday after an explosion by the executing agency during the highway widening there, bringing a large amount of debris on the highway and blocking the way of local villagers as well as Army vehicles. The BRO has started removing the debris,” district magistrate Himanshu Khurana told this paper.
He said the road was blocked around 7 pm on Thursday after some stones, debris and rocks fell from the hill during the road widening work near Helang, 13 km from Joshimath. This route reopened around 6am on Friday.
Joshimath Sub-divisional magistrate Kumkum Joshi told this paper that since the size of the rock that rolled down on the road in Helang was huge, it took time to cut it, due to which the opening of the route was delayed. The passengers were stopped at Joshimath. Rudraprayag was also alerted.
“This is a normal process, after the rainy season, the rocks start cracking due to the heat of the sun, due to which landslides and debris come onto the road,” said Kumkum Joshi. Anand Sailani, head of Helang village, said the work has been going on for a long time for the widening of the all-weather road.
“Though traffic resumed on Friday morning, there is still a possibility of intermittent stone falls.”
Abhishek Tamta, a lodge owner in Helang, said, “The district administration has made food arrangements for passengers.