MANALI (Himachal Pradesh), Dec 31: Five hundred vehicles carrying 2,000 tourists
stranded in the Atal tunnel in Manali following heavy snowfall were rescued
on Friday after an 8-hour-long operation.
The police teams from Keylong and Manali conducted the rescue operation. The
stranded tourists were provided food.
Tourists were thronging Kullu-Manali to celebrate the New Year. They were also
heading to Kalpa, Kufri and Narkanda to see the whiteout. Chamba district and
Pangi valley also received heavy snowfall.
Kothi, Khadrala, Udaipur, Kalpa, Pooh, Sangla, Gondola, Shillaro, Kukumseri
received 3 to 15 cm of snow. Traffic was also disrupted in Shimla, Chamba, Kinnaur
and Lahaul and Spiti.
The tourist vehicles were stranded at both south and north portals of the tunnel.
The Manali-Atal tunnel-Keylong highway was covered by a thick layer of snow
on Thursday and the road has been closed for all vehicles. Vehicles were stranded
as the roads became slippery due to snowfall and the subsequent congestion.
On Thursday hundreds of vehicles carrying tourists had entered Lahaul valley
from Manali through the tunnel but when the snowfall became heavy the roads
were rendered difficult to negotiate and the vehicles were stranded, especially
between the Dhundi nullah and the tunnel.
Keylong in tribal Lahaul and Spiti was the coldest place in Himachal with minus
6.3 deg C.
Atal Tunnel, named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
is a tunnel built under the Rohtang Pass on Leh-Manali Highway in Himachal Pradesh.
The 9-km long tunnel was opened in 2020.
Himachal - Of hills, valleys
and rivers
27 students injured in bus accident near Baramati in Maharashtra
MUMBAI: At least 27 students were injured when a private bus carrying
them met with an accident near Baramati in Maharashtra on Saturday. The incident
took place near Pahunewadi bridge on Baramati-Phaltan Road. The students were
on a tour to Shirdi.
