Rishikesh-Badrinath highway reopens

Rishikesh-Badrinath highway in Vishnuprayag area of Uttarakhand was reopened on Thursday for light vehicles after a two-day closure while pilgrimage to Gangotri and Yamunotri remained suspended due to fresh landslides triggered by heavy rains.

Rishikesh-Badrinath highway, which was blocked at Vishnuprayag and Pandukeshwar due to landslides that also destroyed parts of the road, was reopened for light motor vehicles, Disaster Management and Mitigation Centre (DMMC) sources said.

However, it would take a couple of days more to reopen it for big vehicles as personnel of police, BRO and ITBP are working hard to repair the roads, they said. After the reopening of road for light vehicles, the pilgrims have started returning from Badrinath area, they said.

The authorities had suspended the pilgrimage to Badrinath on Monday after landslides hit the highway on Vishnuprayag and Pandukeshwar. Rains-triggered landslides struck Pandukeshwar and Vishnuprayag areas leaving hundreds of pilgrims stranded on the Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway, Chamoli district magistrate Neeraj Semwal said.

Over 200 Border Road Organisation (BRO) and police personnel had been pressed into service to clear the road of the debris, he said. On the other hand, the pilgrimage to Gangotri and Yamunotri shrine remained suspended after fresh landslides following heavy rains hit Bhatwari and Banas area blocking the vehicular traffic. The pilgrimage to Gangotri shrine was suspended on August 20 after landslides damaged a 50-mt stretch of road at Bhatwari on the Rishikesh-Gangotri national highway.