Uttarakhand: Rain-triggered Landslide Washes Away Part of Highway to Badrinath | WATCH

A landslide triggered by heavy rains washed away part of a highway in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Thursday, leaving several tourists trapped.

The part of Highway 7 which now stands washed away, and was the way to Badrinath. This section lies near Chhinka and is now covered in debris.

This comes two days after over 200 people, mostly tourists were stuck near Aut in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district amid a heavy traffic jam triggered by landslides and flash floods.

The Chandigarh-Manali highway due to a block on the national highway connecting Mandi and Kullu. Heavy rainfall in the Mandi district caused a landslide on the Chandigarh-Manali highway near 7 Mile causing blockage and heavy traffic jams.

The Highway remained closed for almost 24 hours and that several other key roads were blocked due to landslides, including Pangi-Killar highway (SH-26) in Dared Nala.

This comes as India’s monsoon season rains are set to cover the whole country by this weekend.

The IMD has forecast an average amount of rainfall for the entire four-month season despite the formation of an El Nino weather pattern.

IMD’s senior scientist Dr Naresh Kumar on Thursday said that monsoon is in its advanced stage and is active.

“In the coming two days, Madhya Pradesh may witness heavy to very heavy rainfall. More than 12 cm of rain is expected in MP. We are expecting extremely heavy rainfall (more than 20 cm) in parts of South Gujarat and Konkan Goa today. East and Northeast India is expected to receive heavy rainfall in the next five days,” he added.