8 bikers among 400 stranded in Pithoragarh after landslip

PITHORAGARH, MAY 18: More than 400 tourists and pilgrims, including eight bikers from Haryana, are stranded near Malpa, 117km from Uttarakhand’s hill station Pithoragarh, after a massive landslide in the Tawaghat-Lipulekh area along the India-China border.

The road has been blocked for eight days putting the lives of eight bikers from Haryana at risk. The bikers were on the way to watch the Om Parvat, a mountain located in Pithoragarh district, with a peak elevation of 5,590 m (over 18,000 ft), 160km from Pithoragarh.

The process of evacuating the stranded started gradually with the clearing of the debris near Garbadhar, on the Tawaghat-Lipulekh highway. Police identified four of the eight bike drivers from Haryana as: Ajay, Sunil, Surendra and Dharmendra. The names of the pillion riders could not be ascertained.

The bikers, trapped by the landslide, told local villagers that they had run out of food and drinking water. A few locals who reached the main road said due to a weak mobile network, the bikers were unable to talk to their families.

Dharchula sub-divisional magistrate Divesh Sashani told this newspaper that landslide debris was cleared on Wednesday evening. “The road has been opened and the stranded people are moving out,” he said.

Dharchula circle officer Narendra Pant said: “The administration has not been contacted by the bikers yet. We are contacting ITBP and SSB officials to gather more information about them so that they can be evacuated as soon as possible.”

-PTI