Rudraprayag: The highway has been completely closed due to the collapse of a large part of the hill on the Rudraprayag Jawadi bypass connecting the Kedarnath highway. Also, about 100 meters of the highway has been filled with debris. The debris on the highway is so much that it may take a week for the highway to open. At the same time, the forest wealth has suffered heavy damage due to the collapse of the hill on the highway. While an atmosphere of panic has also been created in the surrounding area.
It is worth noting that after the disaster in Dharali of Uttarkashi on August 5, an atmosphere of fear has been created in the entire Garhwal region. The incident of Dharali has once again refreshed the memory of the Kedarnath disaster of the year 2013, due to which panic is visible among the people all the time.
Many tons of debris on the highway: On the evening of Saturday, August 9, a huge part of the hill collapsed on the highway in Rudraprayag Jawadi bypass connecting Kedarnath highway, due to which 100 meters of the highway is covered with debris and boulders and the highway is closed. People remembered Dharali directly when the video of the incident went viral on social media. Many tons of debris and boulders have come on the highway due to the hill breaking, due to which the highway has suffered heavy damage and forest wealth has also been destroyed in large quantities.
100 meters of the part is covered with debris: Thousands of tons of debris has fallen on the highway due to heavy landslide from the hill on Jawadi bypass, which may take a week to clear. The work of clearing the debris from the highway has started from both ends. At present, traffic is being operated from Rudraprayag main market. More than 100 meters of the highway is completely buried in debris. The way the landslide has happened, it is being estimated that the highway has suffered heavy damage.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Prabodh Ghildiyal said that the road is completely blocked for traffic due to the hill cracking on the Jawadi bypass road leading to Kedarnath Dham. JCBs have been deployed from both ends to open the road. Till the road becomes smooth for traffic, the movement of vehicles for Tilwara, Agastyamuni, Ukhimath and Kedarghati is being operated from the town of Rudraprayag via Belni bridge. The national highways going to Badrinath and Kedarnath are open for traffic. He said that machines are engaged in clearing the debris and boulders. Work is being done at a fast pace. The NH department has been instructed to open the highway as soon as possible.
Debris is being thrown into the Mandakini-Alaknanda rivers: While life has been disrupted due to the continuous torrential rains, nature is also suffering heavy damage. Due to the hill cracking on the highways, a huge amount of debris is falling, which is being thrown directly into the Mandakini-Alaknanda rivers by the department’s machines, which is also harming aquatic life. Apart from this, the debris of rural link roads is also being thrown into the ravines, which can prove to be very dangerous for the future.
Development is not happening in a planned manner: Environment expert Dev Raghavendra Badri said that due to indiscriminate construction work, nature has started showing its true form today. Despite this, humans are not ready to become conscious. Hills are cracking at various places on the Badrinath and Kedarnath highways and this debris is being thrown directly into the rivers. In such a situation, while the environment is being damaged a lot, the existence of the animals found in the river is also ending. He said that hilly areas are being destroyed in the name of development. Development work is not being done in a planned manner, due to which disasters are occurring and hills are sliding. Due to these incidents, innocent people are becoming victims of sudden death.
