Locals report fresh cracks on Badrinath highway, BRO says ‘not new’

Ahead of the Char Dham pilgrimage yatra, scheduled to begin in April, locals reported new cracks on the 10 km Joshimath-Marwari stretch and a ten feet-deep pit developing near a railway guest house, people familiar with the matter said. However, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which has been keeping a watch on the developments said the cracks found on the highway at various spots are “not new” and wouldn’t affect the upcoming yatra.

The development came amid the government stepping up preparations for the yatra. The Badrinath shrine which is one of the four ancient pilgrimage sites referred to as ‘Char Dham’ will open on April 27.

A team of BRO and district administration inspected the Badrinath highway from Joshimath town to the Marwari area, a day after the 10-foot deep pit was filled with stones and concrete.

Also Read: Amid Joshimath crisis, cracks appear on stretch of Badrinath highway: Officials

On the situation, Major Aaina Rana, commanding officer of the 75 RCC (BRO) said they have inspected the entire stretch of the Badrinath highway from Joshimath to Marwari with the SDM [sub divisional magistrate] Joshimath amid concern and assured that this is normal and it won’t have a future impact.

“The cracks we found are old and appeared after the situation aggravated on January 2. No further deterioration has been noticed since then. Minor cracks on the highway are normal in this kind of terrain. It won’t make any impact on the burden on the road in the near future,” she said.

“Some cracks were seen on the highway last year too and didn’t make any impact on the yatra which went smoothly and successfully, with unprecedented numbers of vehicles coming to Badrinath,” she added.

The BRO official further added that they were constantly repairing the land subsidence on the road and the upcoming yatra would be as usual.

“As far as yatra is concerned, seven-eight cracks need immediate attention, while others are minor which are usual in such terrain,” Rana stated.

“A deep pit that was developed near the railway building has been filled with stones and concrete. The cavity may have appeared underneath the road surface due to some water activity. It will be treated as per the requirement,” she added.

Chamoli District Magistrate (DM) Himanshu Khurana couldn’t be contacted for his remarks on the issue.

Joshimath SDM Kumkum Joshi, who also went to inspect the highway, said, “Some have reported fresh cracks on the highway, we didn’t find any during the field inspection today with the BRO. The immediate repair work by BRO for the older cracks is underway.”

Also Read: Joshimath crisis: Uttarakhand okays rehabilitation policy for affected families

However, slamming the statement from officials, Atul Sati, convenor of Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, said even though the situation deteriorates with each passing day in Joshimath, the authorities continue to be in denial mode.

He added, “New cracks continue to appear on the highway, while old ones are getting wider. Now deep pits have appeared on the highway. It’s a new phenomenon.”

The Rishikesh-Badrinath highway not just connects to the pilgrimage town of Badrinath, but is also strategically important to Mana, the last Indian village towards the China border.

Over 860 houses of the around 4,500 buildings in Joshimath– known as the gateway to Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib pilgrimage sites– have developed cracks since October 2021.

At least 181 of the buildings in the town have been placed in the unsafe zone, and over 290 families have been moved out to safer areas in the past few months after the situation worsened.

Last month, Ajendra Ajay, chairman of the Badrinath-Kedarnath temple committee, told HT that the upcoming Badrinath yatra may be regulated in the wake of the land subsidence crisis in Joshimath.

The Uttarakhand government had earlier written to the BRO to consult the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, on resuming the work on the Helang-Marwari bypass under the Char Dham all-weather road project that was halted by the district administration in the first week of January after protests by local residents.