Major landslide occurs in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh, no casualty reported

A major landslide occurred on Dharchula-Tawaghat-Lipulekh road here in Uttarakhand, resulting in the closure of the road. There was no casualty, officials said.

The landslide occurred around 11 am near Tawaghat in Pithoragarh, District Magistrate Vinod Goswami said.

While there was no casualty in the incident, the landslide led to the closure of the road, he said.

"SDM Dharchula and BRO officials have reached the spot and work on opening the road to Lipulekh on India-China border is on," he said. The road will be reopened soon, the DM added.

The landslide probably occurred when debris from another road that is under construction above the main road started sliding, Goswami said.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said traffic has been affected due to the landslide on Tawaghat-Dharchula National Highway.

Expressing relief over the fact that there was no casualty in the landslide, he said efforts are on to open the route as soon as possible.

"The district administration and the concerned officials have been instructed to remove the debris and open the route as soon as possible," Dhami said in a post on Facebook.