Uttarakhand Traffic Chaos: Heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand has triggered landslides, causing debris to block the highway and resulting in severe traffic congestion as the tourist season kicks off.

Landslides and continuous rain have caused a traffic jam stretching six kilometres along the Badrinath highway, between Dhari Devi temple situated on the banks of the Alaknanda River and Khankra, which is six kilometres further down the road.

A live Google traffic update at around 4 pm indicated unusually heavy traffic on National Highway 7 (NH 7), a key route connecting several pilgrimage sites including Rishikesh, Devprayag, Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag, Chamoli, Joshimath, and Badrinath.

Live traffic update at 4:15 pm

Live traffic update at 4:15 pm Photo Credit: Image Credit: Google Maps

The Dhari Devi temple lies between Srinagar (Uttarakhand) and Rudraprayag, with the highway running alongside the Alaknanda River.

Users on twitter shared pictures showing vehicles such as cars, Force Travellers, and trucks stuck in slow-moving traffic, while JCB machines worked to clear landslide debris from the road. 

The weather department has forecast dust storms across West and East Rajasthan until May 27, along with hailstorms expected in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

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