Fresh rains in U'khand, many key routes remain blocked

Light to moderate rains occurred at some places in Uttarakhand today, where many key roads continued to be blocked due to recurring incidents of landslides.
The Badrinath highway was again blocked at Patalganga and Maithana following a landslip. This led to suspension of traffic on the route, besides affecting supplies to places like Joshimath, Chamoli and Gopeshwar, the disaster management authorities said.
The route was reopened briefly on Monday after four days of closure, but fresh landslide last night again led to suspension of traffic. BRO personnel are working to remove debris with the help of stone cutting equipment and JCBs.

Though most places across Uttarakhand received light to moderate rains, a few places recorded rather heavy showers.
Haridwar received the maximum 57 mm of rains, followed by Kotdwar (43 mm), Chamoli (32 mm), Dehradun (25 mm) and Haldwani (14 mm), the MeT department said.
Earlier, state Disaster Management Centre chief Piyush Rautela told PTI that despite all out efforts, it will take a year or even more to drag Uttarakhand out of the effects of the June calamity as vagaries of nature and unique geographical conditions have made the exercise difficult.
"Despite the best of intentions of the personnel engaged in reconstruction efforts, nothing can be expected overnight. The weather is often bad and the hilly terrain in which the roads and bridges are being rebuilt don't let the operations go smoothly," he said.