Traffic movement from Dharchula towards the Vyas and Darma valleys in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district was suspended on Wednesday after the Kulagad suspension bridge on the Dharchula-Gunji route was damaged by a heavy landslide, officials said.
The bridge, located around 8-11 km from Dharchula, was damaged early Wednesday morning. “Until an alternative route is developed alongside the damaged bridge, we have requested people not to travel to or from Dharchula and the high Himalayan valley villages,” Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Dharchula Ashish Joshi said.
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The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has started constructing a temporary route alongside the damaged bridge. “The administration expects pedestrian movement to resume by Wednesday evening, while small vehicles may be allowed to use the alternative route from Thursday, depending on the progress of the work,” Joshi said.
“The BRO has begun preparing an alternative route using cement blocks to provide access to the high Himalayan valleys. We expect to enable pedestrian movement by this evening and likely allow small vehicle traffic by tomorrow,” Joshi added.
Officials, including SDM Joshi, the tehsildar, personnel from Dharchula police and representatives of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and BRO, reached the site and began arrangements to restore connectivity.
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SDM Joshi said that reconstruction of the main bridge is expected to take around five to 10 days.
The disruption has also raised concerns over the return schedule of pilgrims undertaking the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. Two batches of pilgrims are scheduled to return from Gunji to Dharchula in the coming days.
“If an alternate route could be developed, the ninth batch could return today, while the 10th and last batch will return on August 23,” Dhan Singh Bisht, in-charge of the Kailash Mansarovar base camp of Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN), the nodal agency for the yatra, said.
The district administration and police have appealed to residents, pilgrims and other travellers to avoid unnecessary movement on the route and follow official advisories until connectivity is restored.
