Uttarakhand landslide: Several tourists stranded; CM Rawat assures blocked roads will be cleared today

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Saturday assured that there have been neither casualties, injuries nor any cases of stranded passengers following the landslide on Friday, and said that all blocked roads will be cleared today itself.

"No one was stranded, there were no unfortunate incidents, 1800 tourists (against reported 15K) were affected and arrangements were made for them." Rawat said in a series of tweets.

Stating that the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and other authorities are working on clearing the debris and route will be opened today,Rawat said, "All the suitable arrangements are in place."
 

No one was stranded,there were no unfortunate incidents,1800 tourists (against reported 15K) were affected & arrangements were made for them https://t.co/TGgQYYSeAv

— Trivendra S Rawat (@tsrawatbjp) May 20, 2017

BRO and other authorities are working on clearing the debris and route will be opened today; all the suitable arrangements are in place.

— Trivendra S Rawat (@tsrawatbjp) May 20, 2017

"Information of landslides was shared with various towns along yatra route and that helped avoid stranding on the roads. Road will reopen today" he added.

Information of landslides was shared with various towns along yatra route & that helped avoid stranding on the roads.Road will reopen today

— Trivendra S Rawat (@tsrawatbjp) May 20, 2017

The Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway was closed near Vishnuprayag in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district due to a landslide, following which hundreds of pilgrims were feared stranded at different places .

The highway has been closed near Vishnuprayag, one of the five confluences of Alaknanda river, between Joshimath (also known as Jyotirmath) and Badrinath, the famous pilgrim spot in the hill state.

In the afternoon, landslides occurred here after huge boulders rolled down the Hathi Pahar mountain. The area between the highway and Alaknanda river was filled with debris.

District Magistrate Ashish Joshi said that BRO (Border Roads Organisation) personnel are engaged in clearing the roads and it could be opened for the traffic by the afternoon tomorrow.

He also said efforts are on to provide all facilities to 1,000-1,500 pilgrims who are at Joshimath, Karnaprayag, Pipalkoti, Govindghat and Badrinath.

The pilgrims have been asked to stay at these places till the way is cleared.

(With agency inputs)