About 25 to 28 Kedarnath pilgrims from Assam’s Nalbari were stranded in Uttarakhand after a landslide triggered by heavy rain washed away part of a key highway at Chamoli on Thursday.
As per a report, a portion of National Highway 7, which leads to Badrinath, is covered in debris near Chhinka in the Chamoli district.
In a video shared by one of the stranded Assam pilgrim, a lady said, “We were heading to Badrinath from Kedarnath when a landslide triggered by heavy rain washed away part of a key highway at Chamoli leaving all the pilgrims stranded since yesterday. We spent the entire night on road. We are nearby 25 people or may be more than that from Assam who have gathered here. We have nothing to eat or drink. Our conditions are extremely worrisome. I request the people of Assam willing to visit Uttarakhand to change their plans for at least a week as conditions are not suitable.”
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has sounded an orange alert for very heavy rain in parts of Uttarakhand.
It may be mentioned that this incident has come to light barely three days after 200 people, most of them tourists, were stranded and faced a 15-km long traffic jam after a flash flood and landslides blocked the national highway connecting Mandi and Kullu in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh.