Landslide blocks Manali-Chandigarh highway causing huge traffic snarl

MANALI - Thousands of tourists heading towards Manali, Himachal Pradesh are stuck in a major traffic snarl due to a landslide on the Manali-Chandigarh highway at Pandoh.

Thousands of vehicles were stuck in the snarl that extended from both sides of the site of the landslide, 50 km from Kullu.

The landslide occurred early in the morning at around 2 a.m. on Thursday. There were no casualties.

“The traffic is stuck from both the sides. The road was opened for a while in between, but after two hours the road was blocked. Both sides, around 5,000-6,000 vehicles are there, and 2 a.m., it was raining continuously, and suddenly there was a landslide due to which road was blocked, and the work is in progress,” said Sharif Mohamad, Station House Officer, Mandi.

They said they are expecting help from the government, as there are no amenities available to them.

“We are waiting here for so long since yesterday, we didn’t eat anything. We went for Manali at five o’ clock (a.m.), and since like 7.30 hours we are standing here, we don’t have food and even we don’t have water, strong rains, darkness, no one can help us, road is blocked, we can’t go backwards even, we can’t go back to Manali, and we can’t go forward to Dharamsala, and it is so frustrating. The girls with me are so frustrated, terrified and it is really exhausting,” said Roni Gilbon, a tourist from Israel.

The repair work on the road is in progress but passengers have not been informed how long the procedure would take.

The Chandigarh-Manali highway is a crucial link to the Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul and Spiti districts and to Leh in Jammu and Kashmir. (ANI)