Uttarakhand : Gangotri Highway stalled for seven hours in Bandarkot

The Gangotri Highway near Bandarkot remained closed for several hours on Friday due to heavy rains. The highway was closed for movement in the early morning due to heavy rock debris falling. However, after about seven hours, the highway was restored for traffic by the BRO, due to which the passengers heaved a sigh of relief.

In the rainy season, the Bandarkot zone on the Gangotri highway is becoming a problem. Due to heavy rains, there is a continuous process of falling of rocky stones here. The Gangotri highway near Bandarkot and Singote was closed due to debris on Friday at 4.30 am. BRO’s machinery was busy in restoring the highway in the morning. But due to the continuous falling of stones, there was a lot of difficulty in opening the highway. The highway was opened for traffic at around 11.15 am. However, due to the closure of the highway for the whole day here on Thursday, the movement of vehicles was diverted from Devidhar-Sankurna bypass on the instructions of the DM. Vehicular movement was resumed in Bandarkot on Friday. On the other hand, due to road cutting work at Sayanchatti on Yamunotri Highway, the movement on the highway was stopped near Kuthar in the morning. After a few hours after clearing the debris, the road was restored for movement by the officials of NH Barkot. Traffic is being affected here due to the continuous falling of debris on the highway. District Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal said that at present the traffic on Gangotri and Yamunotri highways is going on uninterrupted.