BRO and Uttarakhand police clears Gangotri National Highway blocked due to landslides

Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) [India], July 29 (ANI): Border Road Organisation (BRO) and Uttarakhand police cleared the Gangotri National Highway near Netala, Helgugadh and Sungar for the vehicular movements, which was blocked due to landslides and debris on Monday morning.

Uttarakhand Police said on the social media platform X “The blocked Gangotri National Highway near Netala, Helgugad and Sunagar has become clear for traffic”.

The post further stated that “The work of clearing the Gangotri National Highway, which was blocked near Bishanpur due to landslides and debris, is in progress. BRO machinery is busy in clearing the road”.

Earlier, on July 27, in the strong current of the Bhagirathi river at Gangotri Dham, the gate of the Shivanand Kutir Ashram was washed away and the security wall was damaged. Sadhus and labourers were trapped in the Ashram. Police and SDRF jawans entered the Ashram from the hill behind the Ashram and rescued 10 sadhus and labourers.

In a separate incident in the early hours of Saturday, July 27, A woman’s body, who was buried under the debris of a building that was hit by a landslide in Ghansali, was recovered by rescue personnel.

The woman and her daughter were trapped under the debris of their home that collapsed in the landslide triggered by heavy rain in the village of Toli.

Similarly, on Thursday, July, 25, the Uttarakhand police cleared the debris near Gulabkoti in the Joshimath area on the Badrinath National Highway, which was blocked due to debris after the landslide.

The Badrinath road was closed earlier at Pagal Nala and Gulabkoti due to falling boulders and debris from the hillside. The falling debris was due to the continuous rain that has lashed the Chamoli district.

Heavy rain in parts of Uttarakhand over the past few days has triggered landslides in the hills, with the highways at several places in the state being blocked at many points by rubble on several occasions.