Chamoli (Uttarakhand): Over 300 people who were on a visit to Panch Kedar Kalpeshwar Temple have been stranded after a massive landslide hit the Helang-Urgam motorway three kilometres ahead of Helang in Joshimath block in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Thursday.
The landslide occurred at around 5 pm on Thursday, which led to a 50 metre stretch of the road collapsing and being engulfed by the Kalpaganga river below.
It has been 19 hours so far since the road was closed and according to officials of the concerned department, it would take about two weeks to repair the damaged portion.
DS Chauhan, assistant engineer of PMGSY (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana), said, "A large part of the road had collapsed due to the landslide on Thursday evening. The work of opening it has started.
"It will take about 15 days for the road to open", he noted.
Alongside construction work, alternative roots are being prepared by the department for pedestrian movement.
Meanwhile, the connectivity of more than half a dozen villages, too, has been lost because of the road collapse.
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"Due to closure of Helang Urgam road, more than half a dozen villages of Urgam valley have lost contact. Along with the villagers, devotees are facing difficulties in reaching the Yogdhyana Badri temple at Banchabadri in Urgam valley and Kalpeshwar temple in Panch Kedar", Village head of Urgam area, Anoop Negi said.
Such villages include Urgam, Dumuk, Kalgoth and Jakhola, among otherṣ.
A local resident Laxman Singh Negi, on the other hand, said that due to the blockade even the JCB machines of the Public Works Department (PWD) have not been able to reach Helang-Urgam to clear the debris which is causing problems in the supply of the basic logistics in the area, as this road is the lifeline of the villagers here.
Around 200 locals, apart from tourists, are stuck in the Urgam valley.
Landslides and flash floods are common in the Himalayan state where approximately 5,000 people were killed in 2013 when heavy rains triggered a deluge in the Kedarnath valley.
