Traffic movement hampered on Gangotri-Yamunotri highway

Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) : Traffic was suspended at a number of places along the Gangotri-Yamunotri National Highway on Saturday morning due to constant rainfall in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district, an official said.

District Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal said that the traffic on the Gangotri and Yamunotri national highways came to a standstill for traffic as a result of persistent showers in the region.

“The Gangotri Highway is closed at Sunagar and Swarigad, while the Yamunotri Highway is closed at Dabarkot, Syanachatti and several other places,” stated the District Disaster Management Officer.

According to the District Disaster Management Officer, the Dhasadaa village of the Bhatwadi block of Uttarkashi district is in danger of a major landslide.

“A major landslide is likely to occur in the Dhasadaa village of the Bhatwadi block of Uttarkashi district. The village at this location is losing ground on a daily basis,” said Officer Patwal.

The Official further said that a designated team will be appointed to look into the situation of the landslide in the village.

We will send a team into the village to examine the situation of the landslide, said the District Disaster Management Official.

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.

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 the Gadere River, water and debris entered 5-6 houses.

He said 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.

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.

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.