MANALI: Vehicular traffic remains disrupted on Manali-Leh and Manali-Spiti highways as landslides and gushing Himalayan streams continue to hit them as rains batter the region.
The Manali-Leh highway was blocked for hours again on Tuesday after a massive landslide swallowed the road near Nehru Kund on Monday late night and piled huge boulders and tonnes of debris on the patch. With the Manali-Rohtang Pass road stretch being prone to landslide, BRO jawans have to work day and night to keep it open.
38 Border Road Task Force commander Colonel Uma Shankar said the landslide at Nehru Kund was cleared in the morning and traffic resumed. “Heavy rains in the area are causing landslides. We have deployed our machines at sliding prone areas, ” he said.
The condition of Manali-Kaza (Spiti) road is deteriorating by the day as it is slowly chipped away by the streams flowing in spate between Gramphoo and Kaza at multiple places. The road surface has been washed away and vehicles, including buses, using it get stuck there.
“There is no road to Spiti. Those who do venture out are required to drive though the gushing waters and huge boulders that keep hitting the vehicles. Vehicles getting stuck on the way, that too multiple times, is common, ” said local resident Bhoop Singh, who is a cab driver. The road between Rohtang Pass and Gramphoo too is in a poor condition and has developed deep potholes. Over 100m stretch of the highway between Nehru Kund and Kulang is also sliding and has become very dangerous.