Admin declares alert in Chamoli
Incessant rains for the last two days in the region have sent routine life out of gear and also adversely affected the Char Dham Yatra. With the national highway being blocked at various places due to rain and landslides, the natives and pilgrims are facing inconvenience with the district administration declaring an alert in Chamoli district. The district magistrate has ordered a holiday in schools on Friday in the district, while also ordering a halt on the movement of pilgrims to Badrinath and Hemkund.
It has been raining heavily in this region since Thursday night. Due to this the national highway to Badrinath is being rendered impassable for traffic due to debris landing intermittently at Patalganga, Pagal Nullah at Tagni and the lambagad slide zone. The Border Roads Organisation has already kept JCBs at these spots which are being deployed to clear the roads. However, taking cognisance of the heavy rain forecast in the region, the district magistrate has declared an alert in the district.
A holiday was declared in all schools in the district on Friday in addition to which the pilgrims travelling to Badrinath and Hemkund have been halted at Joshimath till the weather clears. On Thursday evening, a jeep got stuck in the debris at lambagad. The seven persons in the jeep were rescued from the vehicle safely. Due to the heavy rain being experienced in the area, the stretch of the national highway at lambagad slide zone was closed to traffic due to debris till the time of this report being filed.
locals point out that the following the disaster experienced in June last year, the State government had claimed that necessary measures would be undertaken this year to prevent inconvenience to the pilgrims and travelers. Though the authorities are trying to prevent the pilgrims from travelling in risky conditions, the locals complain that the measures taken by the authorities are not adequate to prevent inconvenience to the locals and the visitors.