Around 1,800 people stranded after Uttarakhand landslide

NEW DELHI: Some 1,800 people, many of them pilgrims, were stranded after a landslide hit a highway near a Hindu temple site in mountainous state of Uttarakhand, officials said on Saturday.

The landslide triggered by pre-monsoon rains blocked the highway to the Badrinath temple, one of the main Hindu shrines in the region, leading to many vehicles being stuck on both sides.

“Around 1,800 people have been affected by the landslide. Authorities have made provisions for the lodging, food and drinking water of the people in the area,” state official Ashish Joshi said. Another state official, Vinod Kumar Suman, said there were no reports of deaths or injuries.

“The pilgrims and tourists have been asked to stay at their place still the road gets cleared. Road clearing teams have been at work,removing the debris. The route will be fully opened for traffic with operations Saturday,” he added. Tens of thousands of Hindu pilgrims visit the temples in the Himalayan state every year. In 2013, heavy monsoon rains triggered devastating floods and landslides in the region, leaving more than 5,700 dead or missing and presumed dead.

Border Roads Organisation (BRO) personnel are working round-the-clock to clear the debris that has blocked the route at Hathipahad, near Vishnuprayag. So far, around 250 pilgrims have been pulled out from the immediate route of the landslide.

Thousands on both sides of the route have been asked to stay put at various places and not to venture out and face inconvenience.

The Secretary of the Natural Calamities Department said that all the people were safe and that there was nothing to worry about. Officials said food and lodging arrangements have been made on both sides of the route.

The Uttarakhand government has also issued helpline numbers for relatives and families of the pilgrims for information about their near and dear ones. — Agencies