Heavy Rain Triggers Landslide On Badrinath Highway, Hundreds Of Tourists Stranded. WATCH

Many places in Chamoli district had been lashed by incessant heavy rains on Wednesday night.

Heavy rains have been lashing Uttarakhand for the last few days. Several areas in the state, including popular tourist destinations like Mussoorie and Nainital have reported incidents of landslides. In a fresh incident of mudslide triggered by heavy rain, the Badrinath national highway near Chhinka in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district was blocked on Thursday, leaving hundreds of pilgrims stranded. The stranded pilgrims included those on way to Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib, said officials to PTI.

In a video shared by ANI on Twitter, one can see a portion of a mountain break and slide onto the national highway, completely blocking vehicular movement to Badrinath.

The landslide has caused huge traffic jam on the road leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded. Efforts are on to clear the rubble and restore traffic along the route at the earliest, said the official.

 The Chamoli administration has distributed drinking water and snacks to the stranded pilgrims. Many places in Chamoli district had been lashed by incessant heavy rains on Wednesday night.

The incident comes barely three days after flash floods and landslides resulted in a 15-km long traffic jam that stranded over 200 people on national highway connecting Mandi and Kullu in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has sounded an orange alert for very heavy rain in parts of Uttarakhand. The prediction has put authorities on high alert to mitigate any potential risk and unsure the safety of the people of Uttar, including tourists who have flocked the hill state in large numbers.

Southwest Monsoon ha covered almost 80% of the country and is likely to reach the remaining parts in the next two days, according to IMD bulletin.