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Heavy rainfall triggered a landslide at Barabanka Ghat on National Highway 520 in Odisha's Keonjhar district on Monday, with a section of hillside collapsing and covering nearly half the carriageway with soil, rocks and debris. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) launched clearance operations at the site, while police issued advisories to motorists travelling on the affected stretch. The disruption comes amid IMD orange alerts for heavy rainfall issued across several Odisha districts.
Heavy rainfall triggered a landslide at Barabanka Ghat on National Highway 520 in Odisha's Keonjhar district on Monday, disrupting traffic along the busy highway, officials said. The landslide occurred under the jurisdiction of Rugudi police station after a portion of the hillside gave way, sending soil, rocks and other debris onto the carriageway. Nearly half of one side of the road was reportedly covered by the debris, affecting vehicular movement along the stretch.
NH-520 is a key road link in the mineral-rich Keonjhar district and carries substantial passenger and goods traffic, including iron-laden trucks and buses operating between Badabil and Rajamunda towards Rourkela in neighbouring Sundargarh district. Movement of mineral-laden vehicles carrying stone from the Koida and Badabil mining areas was also affected by the disruption.
Following the incident, police personnel and officials from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) reached the spot and launched clearance operations, with workers removing debris to restore normal traffic movement along the stretch. Traffic was being managed carefully in the interim, with vehicles moving slowly in a single line on the unaffected portion of the carriageway. Keonjhar police issued an advisory urging motorists travelling from Bhadrasahi towards Rajamunda, and separately from Barbil towards Rajamunda, to exercise caution and drive carefully while passing through the affected area.
The disruption comes amid a spell of heavy rainfall across Odisha, with the India Meteorological Department's regional centre in Bhubaneswar issuing weather warnings for several districts through the end of August. According to the department's bulletin, an orange warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall was in effect for Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Subarnapur and Boudh, while a yellow warning covered Angul, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Nuapada, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Nabarangpur, Koraput and Malkangiri districts. The weather system, associated with a low-pressure area over Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining parts of north Odisha and Jharkhand, was expected to move north-westwards over the following 24 hours, with thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds of up to 40 kilometres per hour also forecast in several districts.
The Keonjhar landslide adds to a recurring pattern of monsoon-related disruptions on NH-520, a stretch that has witnessed similar incidents in the past owing to its hilly terrain and mining-linked traffic load. Residents in the area have previously urged the NHAI to identify vulnerable stretches along the corridor and install protective barriers to prevent recurring landslides, particularly given the highway's importance to the region's mining economy and the safety risks posed by debris and boulder falls during periods of sustained rainfall.
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