WATCH | Part Of Hill Crashes Near Tarsali Village In Rudraprayag Blocking National Highway 109

No casualty has been reported as the passengers were sent back by the local people before the debris fell.

New Delhi: A sudden landslide blocked National High (NH) 109 in Rudraprayag after debris from a hill near Tarsali village fell on the road on Thursday. This created long queues of traffic on either side of the highway. No casualty has been reported as the passengers were sent back by the local people before the debris fell. In the video captured by people on the highway, a large chunk of land along with trees can be seen falling off a hill. 

District Magistrate Mayur Dixit spoke to ANI and said that work is underway to open up the road for a safe passage of the vehicles. He said once the debris is cleared people will be allowed to move. 

"All the passengers have been stopped at safe places. The work of opening the highway is being done by national Highways. Once the debris is cleared, the safe vehicular movement of passengers will be done," DM Dixit said.

The pilgrims going to Kedarnath were stopped at Rudraprayag, Tilwara, Agastyamuni and Guptkashi. And those coming back from Sonprayag have also been stopped at safe places like Sitapur, reported ANI.

With the monsoon retreating, the Char Dham Yatra has started to pick up. On Tuesday, the Badrinath Kedarnath temple committee prohibited the entry of pilgrims inside the sanctum sanctorum due to a surge in the number of devotees during "Pitr Paksha".