Anil Baluni, the BJP MP from Garhwal, encountered a landslide on Wednesday evening on the Badrinath highway as heavy rain continued to wreak havoc in parts of Uttarakhand.
A video of the incident showed Baluni, who was travelling from Rudraprayag, where he had gone to take stock of the rain damage, narrowly avoiding debris falling from the hill onto the road.
In a post on X, he wrote that cloudbursts and landslides in Uttarakhand this year have left deep wounds that will take a long time to heal. “Yesterday evening, I had a terrifying experience of a landslide in the disaster-affected area. This scene speaks volumes about the severe natural calamity that our Uttarakhand is going through at this time,” he said in the post on Thursday.
“I pray to Baba Kedarnath for safety and good health for all. In this hour of disaster, I appreciate the dedication of all the officials, NDRF-SDRF personnel, administration, and the workers clearing debris from the roads even in challenging circumstances,” he wrote.
Uttarakhand has been reeling under heavy rainfall and landslides over the past few days. On Tuesday, Sahastradhara witnessed a cloudburst during which 264 mm of rainfall was reported in 24 hours, leading to damage and deaths in Dehradun and nearby districts. On Thursday morning, a debris slide pummelled three villages in Chamoli’s Nandnagar, leading to at least two deaths.
Baluni has been visiting affected areas in Chamoli, Tehri, Pauri, Rudraprayag and Ramnagar to meet families of victims.
