Uttarakhand Rains: Debris blocks Badrinath Highway in 7 places

Chamoli (Uttarakhand) [India], October 19 (ANI): The Badrinath National Highway in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand has been completely blocked due to debris at seven places following incessant rains over the last 48 hours, the district administration said on Tuesday.
There has been a power cut as well since Monday night in several areas including the district headquarters.
As a precautionary measure, the Badrinath Char Dham Yatra has been halted, and passengers en route to Badrinath Temple were stopped in safe places.
According to the district administration, 2,500 devotees, who had gone to Badrinath, are still stationed at the Badrinath Temple waiting for the highway to re-open.
However, the rain continues to lash the state and Badrinath received fresh snowfall this morning.
The water level in the Nandakini River has also rose significantly raising an alarm.
As per Meteorological Centre Dehradun, Chamoli received 19.8 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.
National forecasting agency, India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Uttarakhand with a forecast of heavy to very heavy rainfall in the state and heavy rainfall has been predicted for the next few days.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday took detailed review on the situation in the state.
He took stock of the situation from the disaster control room of the state's secretariat.
Meanwhile, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) on Monday rescued occupants of a car that got trapped in near the swollen Lambagad nallah near Badrinath National Highway.
State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and police rescued around 22 devotees stuck at Jungle Chatti who were returning from Kedarnath Temple. They were shifted to Gauri Kund. One 55-year-old devotee, who found it difficult to walk was shifted on a stretcher. (ANI)