Kothi (Manali), August 1
Hundreds of vehicles and Army trucks remained stranded near the tiny village of Kothi, 13 km from here, north of Manali on the Manali-Leh Highway last night at about 12.25 am. After a long dry spell, the monsoons arrived in the Manali region a few days ago. Last night a spell of torrential rains in the Manali region, especially in and around the Gulaba meadows and the 13,050 ft-high Rohtang Pass brought along with it sudden flash floods which completely washed away the 60-ft-long Kothi Bailey Bridge-2.
The flash floods brought along a huge quantity of debris consisting of old trees left-over timber and large boulders, which completely destroyed this bridge.
According to Paras Ram, a labourer laying OFC underground cables in the area and camping at Gulaba, last night the area suddenly experienced heavy rains. The Moru Nullah, flowing down from the Gulaba meadows, then swelled with a huge volume of water. He said that he and the other 20 labourers rushed to the higher ground for safety. But Dayanand, a labourer from Bihar, was caught unawares and was washed away. His body is still to be recovered. Chandershri from Bihar was seriously injured in the floods.
Two temporary tea stalls and dhabhas between Rahala Falls and Gulaba were also washed away. According to Mr Pyar Chand SDO (T) project, the injured had been brought down and taken to Manali hospital for treatment.
The 200-kilowatt Mini Hydel project, constructed just below this bridge was also partially damaged and its operation was stopped.
This project is one of the eight projects allotted to Himachal Pradesh out of the total 20 UNDP GEF projects in the country. According to Narayan Dutt, Project Officer, efforts were being made to repair and restart the electric supply from this project within a few days.
According to officer, in charge
(Border Roads Organisation), Mr Manvinder Kumar, the road between Rohtang Pass and Kothi had been damaged in about 25 places. The BRO was working on a war footing to reopen this vital road as this remains the only link to Ladakh from Manali and is used for Army supplies to the border areas. He further said that they would also ensure the reconstruction of the bridge over the Moru Nullah at the earliest. They have already started bringing the parts needed for the rebuilding of this bridge.
A number of trekking groups and jeep Safari participants have also been affected as July and August are the peak season for adventure tourism. Hundred of foreign adventurers have been left stranded near the Rohtang Pass and Kothi as they were either on their way to Spiti and Ladakh or returning from there. According to the travel agents in Manali the adventure tourism in the valley would be adversely affected if the road was not reopened immediately. Earlier the Shimla-Spiti circuit had been affected due to a massive landslide at the Malling Nullah rendering traffic from Shimla to Spiti ineffective. Many groups have changed their itineraries due to the popular Buddhist circuit being cut off at Malling between Kinnaur and Spiti.
This is also the peak season for peas from Lahaul and Spiti, and every day hundred of trucks drive between Lahaul and Manali transporting this produce. If the road is not repaired immediately the farmers from these far-flung areas will also suffer heavy losses as many of them have already harvested their crops and made arrangements for transportation.
Many of the stranded trucks are carrying fresh peas which may rot if not, brought to the markets in time.
According to the local police an unidentified body was recovered from the banks of the River Beas this morning at Kanchnikut and has been sent to Kullu Zonal Hospital for post-mortem.
