PITHORAGARH: Barely a few hours after the vehicular movement was restored on the Pithoragarh-Tanakpur road (National Highway-9), the stretch was closed again on Thursday due to landslide.
On Wednesday night, the NH-9 was blocked at Delhi Band due to landslide, cutting off Pithoragarh from Tanakpur and Haldwani.
Supply of essential commodities like fruits and vegetables to Pithorgarh was also affected. The officials had taken 19 hours to remove the boulders.
“Incessant rainfall may have led to the massive landslide. Large chunks of boulders have blocked the road again. We will try to open the stretch by Friday evening,” Vijay Kumar Jogdande, district magistrate (DM), Pithoragarh, said.
“We have informed the district administrations of Champawat and Nainital. The vehicle movement towards Pithoragarh will be stopped. We request the commuters to take an alternative route, i.e. theHaldwani-Seraghat route to reach Pithorgarh,” the DM added.
The road cutting work is being undertaken on the Pithoragarh-Tanakpur road, under the All-Weather Char Dham project. Officials say the road cutting work may have been causing frequent landslides at the Delhi Band route. “The rocks at Delhi Band are loose. Hence due to rock cutting, landslides have been occurring. JCB machines have been deployed, hope the boulder gets cleared by Friday evening,” said PL Chaudhari, assistant engineer, National Highway-9.
