The Badrinath National Highway was once again blocked on Wednesday due to a massive landslide near Patalganga between Gopeshwar, Pipalkoti and Joshimath.

The landslide caused a large cloud of debris, which took some time to subside.

The District Disaster Management Office here said that at around 11:15 am on Wednesday, without any rain, a large part of the hill slipped and fell into Patalganga.

It fell at the mouth of a tunnel along the National Highway and was damaged in the process as it took with it lakhs of tonnes of soil, stones and megaliths.

Badrinath NH has already been blocked due to landslides for the last few days.

The tunnel was constructed a few years ago in view of the frequent landslides in the area.

Vikram Singh of Lanji village, located on the other side of the Alaknanda river just opposite the tunnel, said the landslide was so powerful that the entire Alaknanda and Patal Ganga valley trembled for a few seconds.

Fear ran among the people going to vote in the by-election on Badrinath Assembly seat, but they could not avoid the temptation of seeing the spectacle of a huge cloud of dust and debris rising into the air after the landslide.