Himachal Pradesh: Chandigarh-Manali Highway blocked for past 24 hours due to landslide

Landslides continue to cause problems in Himachal Pradesh as roadways continue to get blocked at points. The Chandigarh-Manali National Highway named the National Highway-3 remained blocked for the past 24 hours due to a landslide between Aut and Pandoh in the Mandi district. According to ANI, several vehicles were stranded on the highway and the traffic had to be diverted. However, movement of vehicles has resumed from Saturday, August 28.

National Highway-3 was temporarily closed due to a landslide causing the traffic to be diverted to the Kataula route. Ashish Sharma, ASP, Mandi district informed that the roadblock in the region has been dealt with and the traffic is now resuming after a halt of 24 hours. At present, long lines of vehicles on their way to Kullu are currently waiting on the road due to the closure of the highway.

This was the second consecutive day when a major landslide occurred at Pandoh. Earlier on Thursday, the area witnessed a landslide that caused a roadblock that lasted over 10 hours. Frequent landslides on the highway now have the tourists unsafe. The major Himachal Pradesh landslide that happened in July had affected the tourism industry of Kullu and Manali.

Himachal Pradesh landslide

Earlier last month, the Chandigarh-Manali Highway was blocked multiple times due to landslides. On July 27, the area between Mandi and Kullu at Hanogi in Mandi district was largely affected by consecutive landslides in the region which caused the traffic movement to be interrupted. The roadblock had formed a large queue of vehicles on the highway which took hours to resolve. Only two days later, vehicles parked on the same road was damaged after rock boulders fell over it.  

The landslides, flash floods and heavy rainfall wreaked large havoc in the state. According to reports by the State govt, more than 200 people were currently stranded in Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul-Spiti following a cloudburst and landslides during the monsoons. As per the State Disaster Management officials, 221 people were reported to have been stranded in the Udaipur district, of which 191 are from parts of Himachal Pradesh and 30 are visitors from seven other states. The series of disasters took the lives of many and caused large infrastructural losses in the state.

IMAGE: TWITTER