Many devotees could not resume the Chardham Yatra for the third consecutive day because of a massive landslide blocking the Badrinath Highway near Joshimath in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district.

Government agencies were unsuccessful in clearing the block till Thursday.

During the cleanup efforts in Patalganga near Joshimath, two workers from the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) suffered injuries when falling boulders hit them. They were admitted to a hospital in Chamoli.

Kamal Pati, a BRO engineer, told reporters: “We were conducting drilling operations to restore road services when the boulders started falling. Our drill machine was damaged, and the driver and helper were injured and hospitalised.”

Eyewitnesses, however, claimed that the landslide occurred after three consecutive blasts were conducted to break the boulders. Officials reported that over 3,000 devotees were stranded at various locations along the Badrinath Highway.

The government had issued an advisory urging devotees to delay their journey because of the possibility of more such incidents.

Chandrashekhar Vashishth, the sub-divisional magistrate of Joshimath, said: “We distributed 3,500 food packets among tourists stranded at several spots. They are either en route to Badrinath or returning from there. Many have secured accommodation in nearby hotels and some are sleeping in their cars and buses on the roads.

“The BRO started using compressor machines to break the boulders and clear the road, but the weather was not on our side. Clearing the blocked highway is our top priority,” he said, adding that Patalganga in Pipalkothi, along with the highway, is an active landslide zone.