Over 1,000 people who had returned to their villages in Munsiyari of Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand for a yearly religious ritual have got stranded for the past six days because of rain-triggered landslides.

The residents of 13 villages leave home and stay with relatives in the plains during the monsoon months because rain and landslides cut off these areas, earning them the name of “migration villages”. However, they return for two days during this period for Nandashtami, or the worship of the Nanda Devi mountains.

This time, the residents of the 13 villages, including Tolalwa, Bilju, Rilkot, Martoli, Burfu, Chhirkani, Ralam, Milam, Panchhu and Ganghar, had returned on August 25 for the two-day rituals that began the next day.

Some people who began leaving the villages on August 26 itself after completing the rituals early informed the authorities in Pithoragarh that over 1,000 people would no longer be able to return as landslides had started. The residents mostly belong to the Johari tribe and are predominantly farmers.

Pankaj Brijlal, the panchayat chief of Dummar village 40km downhill, said: “I got the message from some people who had left the villages immediately after the first day of the puja on August 26 that over 1,000 people wouldn’t be able to return because all connecting roads had been damaged because of rain and landslides. I have informed the local authorities and they have promised to repair the roads by Wednesday.”

“I am in touch with the people trapped there over cell phone, although the connectivity is very poor,” he added.

Mahesh Ram, an engineer in the public works department, said: “Labourers have been sent to repair and clear the routes and we hope that it will be done within two days.”

Located in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, Nanda Devi is the second highest mountain in India after Kanchenjunga.