NH 58, Uttarakhand:
It has been two months since the Himalayan tsunami in Uttarakhand left a trail of devastation with close to 5000 people missing, feared dead.
It's a disaster the state is still struggling to deal with as it maps out its recovery where it's sorely missing a crucial link - road connectivity.
More than 100 roads, both big and small, are either cut off or blocked due to landslides: a situation worsened by the heavy downpour.
Take NH (national highway) 58 for example. It's a crucial link between Rishikesh and Devprayag on one side and Rudraprayag and Badrinath on the other side. For four days now the road to Badrinath is blocked by frequent landslides as the NH 58 negotiates a fragile mountain face in Chamoli district. In fact, it has been barely three days since the road till Rudraprayag on the same highway has been made motor-able in Srinagar where landslides have denuded stretches of the hills.
And it's not just this stretch of the national highway.
The roads leading up to the 'char dhams', namely Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath have been blocked at different points due to landslides.
NH 109 to Kedarnath has been shut for two months now after big chunks of the highway have simply been washed away with the river and rain fury, beyond Chandrapuri.
This means the access to Kedarnath is completely cut off as the alternate route to Guptkashi that goes via Mayali is also shut. It is expected to be cleared by Sunday evening.
The road to Badrinath is shut ahead of Maithana with repeated land slips and in Uttarkashi a landslide has blocked the road ahead of Harsil.
For those with no option but to make the daily commute like Sheetal, a class 10 student studying in Srinagar, roads are a constant source of anxiety. Speaking to NDTV the teenager said, "I'm worried when I think of travelling on these roads. It is an important academic year for me but there are days that I prefer giving school a miss rather than get stuck somewhere on the way to school."
Businessman Praveen Saini agrees. "There's only a 10 per cent improvement in the condition of the roads here in the last two months," he says.
A resident of Rudraprayag, Chandrapal Bhandari is anxious every time his Maruti Zen has to manoeuvre through the muck or stony patches of the road, but he says, "We manage with what we have. Sometimes we have to park the car on one side of a broken or blocked road and walk to the other side. This road has opened just three days ago. Imagine the plight of those who have no roads leading up to their homes in remote villages."
The administration says that wherever roads are falling prey to landslides, temporary alternative routes are being opened, but the monsoon has made repair work difficult.
Every downpour comes with more uncertainty. The hilly terrain, the unpredictable weather and landslide-prone rocks, there's no doubt Uttarakhand is dealing with multiple problems all at once. It is equally true though, that the state has miles to go on this long and challenging road to recovery.