Heavy rainfall and landslides have hampered road connectivity in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district. With no alternative route available, school and college students from Bothi village are forced to climb over landslide-affected routes to Uchhaiti.

An ambulance carrying a pregnant woman was also stuck at a landslide-affected point connecting Madkot and Munsyari earlier. The vehicle was later pushed out of the spot by residents of the area.

On July 2 the Munsyari tehsil received 250 mm of rainfall leading to flooding and several landslides. A woman lost her life when she fell into a deep gorge after a boulder fell on her near Madkot, close to Munsyari.

Flooding and consequent loss of road connectivity are annual phenomena in the area now.

A report from almost exactly a year ago.

Last year, Pradeep Kumar, a geologist of the Geology and Mining Unit of the Uttarakhand government, told the Hindustan Times that the use of explosives in road construction is one of the key reasons for frequent flooding and landslides in Pithoragarh.