A fresh spell of heavy snow in Himachal Pradesh’s Manali on Monday left several vehicles stuck and tourists stranded in their vehicles for hours between Solang and Atal Tunnel, Rohtang.
According to officials, over 1,000 vehicles were stuck on the Manali-Leh highway in a long traffic jam, prompting police to launch a rescue operation and shift around 700 tourists to safe places.
Most of the stranded vehicles were tourist cars, many of which were not equipped for snowy road conditions. The traffic jam extended from Solang Nallah to Atal tunnel, causing a major disruption.
Officials of the district administration along with police were present at the scene to coordinate rescue efforts.
The team worked tirelessly throughout the night to evacuate the vehicles, ensuring the safety of all passengers. Majority of the vehicles were evacuated and transported back to Manali from the Lahaul side on Monday late night.
Meanwhile, the authorities have advised tourists to travel in 4×4 vehicles, which are designed for snowy roads and are equipped with snow chains for better traction.
174 roads, 3 national highways blocked
As many as 177 roads including three national highways were closed due to snowfall on Monday.
Out of these, a total of 89 roads remained closed in Shimla district, highest in the state, followed by 44 in Kinnaur district, 25 in Mandi, six in Kangra and Kullu, three each in Una and Lahaul and Spiti and one in Chamba district.
Additionally, NH-3 and NH-305 remain closed for vehicular traffic in Kullu district and NH-505 in Lahaul and Spiti district.
Beside this, 683 Distribution Transformers (DTR) remained disrupted across the state.
Meanwhile, light snow in isolated areas of Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur districts, and light rain in isolated areas of Shimla, Mandi, Solan, Sirmour and Kullu districts are likely to occur on Tuesday.