Dehradun, October 19, 2013: A fresh landslip damaged 150 metres of National Highway 109 on Friday. Only on Wednesday, a landslip broke 200 metres of the highway.

Rudraprayag District Magistrate Raghav Lavangar said the damaged site, on the way to the Kedarnath temple, is 13 km from Guptkashi to Sonprayag. Kedarnath pilgrims, locals and the staff of the local administration were taking a two-km trek, through Khat village, to reach the other side of the highway.

Yatra continues

“The Kedarnath yatra is continuing, and people are moving to the other side of the highway by a route through Khat,” Mr. Lavangar said.

By Friday afternoon, 19 pilgrims and 33 locals had taken the detour to Kedarnath.

Unlike Wednesday, there was some rain on Friday morning when the landslip occurred, he said.

Information and Public Relations Director-General R. Meenakshi Sundaram said, “On Thursday morning, the Border Roads Organisation started restoring the portion damaged on Wednesday.”

Residents of Khat had apprehensions about rock-cutting for restoration work. A retention wall was being built simultaneously to save their land from the impact of rock-cutting, Mr. Lavangar said.

Source: The Hindu, October 19, 2013