Buses to Manikaran halted at Jari due to road cave-in

Abhinav Vashisht

Kullu, April 15

After a portion of the Bhuntar-Manikaran road caved in near Dunkhra village, buses are not being allowed beyond Jari, 13 km from Manikaran.

The portion of the road gave way due to subsistence after a 400-metre stretch had caved in on March 29. The buses kept plying for a couple of days after the road was temporarily restored, but they were again halted after it became slippery due to slush. Hundreds of locals, tourists and devotees have to either proceed towards Manikaran on foot or pay hefty fare to taxi operators.

The 35-km Bhuntar-Manikaran road also witnesses frequent traffic jams at many spots, especially during the tourist and fruit season. The condition of the road has further deteriorated after floods in July last year.

Public Works Department Executive Engineer BC Negi said the repair work was underway near Dunkhra. He said gravel was being laid on the slippery portion and machinery had been deployed for clearing the slush.

The restoration work was taking longer than expected due to the steep gradient of the slippery portion, he said, adding efforts were on to stabilise the road and 20 days had been earmarked to complete the job. The adverse weather and traffic jams were also delaying the restoration work, he added. Rakesh of Manikaran, said thousands of tourists and pilgrims, besides foreigners, who visit the valley had to face inconvenience due to the poor road condition.

A resident of Jari, Mohit, said, “For long, locals had been demanding road widening, but successive governments had only paid lip service.” He alleged several fatal mishaps had occurred due to the bad condition of the road.”