Despite the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway-58 being blocked by debris, the pilgrims have continued to travel towards Badrinath, walking from Marwadi to Vishnuprayag bridge en route to Badrinath.
Sources said if weather permits, it will still take a few more days for the highway to be cleared and opened for the public. About 10 km from Joshimath, the National Highway-58 to Badrinath has been closed due to landslides at Hathi Parvat near Marwadi since Tuesday.
However, this has not deterred the devotees from advancing towards the Badrinath shrine. With this stretch of the highway being closed, the pilgrims travelling by road are taking the old bridle path to walk up to Vishnuprayag from where they board vehicles to Badrinath.
The Border Roads Organisation is carrying out blasts to break the heavy boulders though the work of clearing the heavy debris has not been started yet.
Sources said the task of clearing the debris will be started after the heavy boulders are broken down. Meanwhile, the personnel of ITBP and SDRF are assisting the pilgrims walking from Marwadi to Vishnuprayag.
On Friday, 800 pilgrims walked to Vishnuprayag from here and then proceeded in vehicles towards Badrinath while as 700 devotees returned from the shrine.