Following heavy rainfall, debris blocked the Rishikesh- Badrinath National Highway at three sites on the stretch of the road between Joshimath and Govindghat. Vehicles carrying local travellers and those undertaking the Char Dham Yatra pilgrimage were stranded on the road for hours before the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) managed to clear the debris and reopen the road for traffic at about 2 pm on Monday.
As forecast earlier, spells of medium to heavy rain was reported from different parts of the State in Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh districts, amomg other areas, on Sunday and Monday though no reports had been received by the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) regarding human fatality, animal casualty or damage to property till the time of this news report being filed on Monday night.
With spells of light and medium to heavy rain being experienced in various parts of the State for a couple of days now, motor roads in various parts of the State were reported to be temporarily affected. About 18 kilometres from Joshimath in Chamoli district, the Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway got blocked at three sites by debris near Balduda and Govindghat causing considerable inconvenience to travelers and those undertaking the pilgrimage to Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib on Monday morning.
Teams from the BRO and other departments concerned used mechanical exacavators to clear debris from the highway to enable resumption of traffic on the road by about 2 PM in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, according to information provided by the Rudraprayag district disaster control room, the bridle path to Kedarnath was reported to be blocked on Sunday near Gaurikund though. It was later cleared.
Rain was reported on Sunday and Monday in the district but no reports had been received about any loss of life or major damage to property or death/injury to cattle and other domesticated animals apart from some damage to roads, link routes and farm lands which the district officials said were among the usual repercussions of rain in the mountainous regions every year.
Similarly, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) informed that apart from temporary blockage of some roads which had been either cleared or were in the process of being cleared, no reports of human or cattle casualty or major infrastructural damage were received from any of the 13 districts till late evening.
In Nainital, presently attracting a considerable number of tourists, a spell of rain starting in the afternoon caught unprepared, some of the visiting tourists who were seen seeking shelter from the rain while sauntering on the Mall Road.
It is pertinent to mention here that the State administration has maintained alertness with probability of heavy rains being forecast in parts of the State in the coming days.