Due to the incessant rains, landslides and other factors, many roads in the mountainous districts of the Garhwal region and Kumaon region have remained blocked for traffic while some roads have not even been opened for pedestrians.
A total of 1270 roads are blocked across the State since the advent of the monsoon season. Of these roads, 307 are under the purview of the Public Works Department. The landslides, mudslides, overflowing gorges and road subsidence have disrupted traffic on national highways and roads under the PWD and Asian Development Bank.
The blocked roads are creating problems for both the locals, tourists and pilgrims arriving in the State. The Char Dham Yatra to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri shrines is being interrupted intermittently due to road blockages.
According to the PWD Chief Engineer Office Pauri, there are 92 roads still closed to traffic in Chamoli, New Tehri, Pauri and Rudraprayag district in the Pauri Zone. A total of 428 roads were closed to traffic in these four districts earlier but the department claims to have reopened 336 of these roads to traffic. In Chamoli district, out of the 75 closed roads 49 were reopened.
In Tehri district 145 of the 166 closed roads were reopened while in Pauri district 124 blocked roads were reopened with 30 roads still blocked. One bridge- the 15 metre span Govindghat-Ghagri bridge is damaged in Chamoli district while three bridges are damaged in Tehri district which include the 45 metre span Ghansali Chamiyala bridge considered to be dangerous for use, the 15 metre span Namasani bridge and the 12 metre span lambgaon-Pratapnagar bridge being partially damaged. It is pertinent to mention that in June –July 2013 disaster triggered by heavy rains had damaged 1058 roads in the seven districts of Garhwal region and 401 roads in the Kumaon region.
The National Highways in the State are under the purview of the Director General of the Border Roads Organisation and the National Highways Authority. According to official sources, Uttarakhand has different construction divisions for the plains and mountainous regions in both Garhwal and Kumaon regions.
The Roorkee division of National Highways Authority is responsible for the construction of highways in plains, while the Dhumakot division in Pauri district and Badkot division in Uttarkashi are responsible for the construction of the highways in the mountainous regions of Garhwal. In Kumaon region, the Haldwani division of NHA is responsible for the construction of highways in the plains, while the Almora division is responsible for the construction of highways in mountainous regions of Kumaon. In addition to this the DG BRO is in the charge of the construction of the National Highways on the Char Dham Yatra circuit.