Uttarakhand: Bridge on Jyotirmath-Malari highway washed away, multiple villages cut off

A motorable bridge on the Jyotirmath-Malari highway in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district got washed away due to heavy rains, severing connectivity to more than a dozen villages in the border area of the Niti Valley.

Heavy rains in the upstream swelled the seasonal Tamak stream, and its gushing waters damaged the bridge around 2 am on Sunday, said district administration officials.

There is no report of any loss of life in this incident that occurred in this area located on the banks of Dhauliganga, a tributary of the Alaknanda river.

Meanwhile, the Badrinath National Highway has been closed after debris accumulated at two places, Bhanirpani and Paaglanala, between Chamoli and Jyotirmath. The district administration said that debris is being removed with machines to restore traffic on the route.

The Kund-Chamoli National Highway connecting Kedarnath to Chamoli is also blocked due to a landslide near Bairagana, and efforts are on to open it.