Uttarakhand: Badrinath highway blocked due to falling boulders, restoration work underway

Chamoli (Uttarakhand) [India], August 5 (ANI): The Badrinath National Highway-7 in Karnprayag on Thursday was blocked for several hours due to the falling of boulders from the hill near Panchpulia.
Superintendent of Police Chamoli Shweta Choubey said that during the day, the work of opening the highway was carried out.
For safety, passengers going to Badrinath at night were stopped at Gauchar and the vehicles of pilgrims going towards Rishikesh were stopped at Karnprayag and Langasu.
Earlier in July, due to the heavy rainfall in the Chamoli district, the road at National Highway-07 was extensively damaged. Recent media reports have alleged that the government has engaged a blacklisted company for the execution of the prestigious Chardham Project.
National Highways and Infrastructure Development (NHIDCL) clarified that no blacklisted contractor is engaged on any of its projects and the selection of contractors for its projects are made after a prescribed due diligent process.
The companies engaged are executing a number of Central and State Government infrastructure projects. The roads are being constructed on EPC mode in which the contractor is responsible for the restoration of defects for four years even after construction. NHIDCL is committed to building high-quality highway infrastructure in the country.
Located in the Garhwal hill tracks in Chamoli district along the banks of Alaknanda River, Badrinath Temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.
The shrine is one of the four ancient pilgrimage sites referred to as 'Char Dham' which also includes Yamunotri, Gangotri, and Kedarnath.
It is situated in the town of Badrinath in Uttarakhand. It remains open for six months every year (between the end of April and the beginning of November).
According to the information from Badri-Kedar Temple Committee on June 18, more than 7 lakh 60 thousand pilgrims visited Badrinath and 7 lakh 27 thousand in Kedarnath, while 3 lakh 84 thousand in Gangotri, 2 lakh 94 thousand in Yamunotri.
Meanwhile, a total of 91 pilgrims have lost their lives during the course of the Char Dam Yatra in Uttarakhand till May 27.
This year, the registrations for Yatra have also observed a new record as more than 10 lakh pilgrims have registered. (ANI)