Chd-Manali NH shut after big landslide near Mandi

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, January 13

Commuters were stranded near Banala on the Chandigarh-Manali highway for long hours because of a massive landslide today.

In the morning hours, a landslide occurred near Shanidev Temple, blocking the road. The road was cleared but later, another massive landslide took place again.

A huge traffic jam occurred near Banala. Due to continuous landslides, traffic could not be restored till evening. Manu Sharma, a resident of Manali, who was on his way from Chandigarh, was stuck around 3 pm. He was waiting for the clearance of the road but in evening, he was forced to take shelter in a nearby village.

Like Manu Sharma, hundreds of locals and tourists had been stuck in the area for hours along with children. The situation had become worse for the commuters because the alternative route via Katola between Mandi and Kullu was also blocked because of heavy snowfall.

The tourists, who were visiting Kullu-Manali, said the journey had become a nightmare for them because of the long traffic jam. They said this had ruined all the charm of the trip.

Additional Superintendent of Police Puneet Raghu said in view of the public safety, a majority of people had been shifted to safer places. The vehicles, plying towards Manali, would be stopped at Mandi till Tuesday morning, while vehicles coming from Manali be stopped at Kullu. In view of the public safety, the traffic had been stopped on the route till 8am tomorrow.

Deputy Commissioner Rugved Thakur said no one would be left stranded on the road during the night and a team of the district administration was on job to shift the people to safer places.

Efforts were on to restore the road to traffic as soon as possible but in view of the public safety, it had been closed till Tuesday morning.

Huge traffic jam near Banala

• A landslide took place near the Shanidev Temple in the morning, blocking the road
• The highway was barely cleared for traffic when another massive landslide occurred
• A huge traffic jam was witnessed near Banala on the Chandigarh-Manali road
• Stranded commuters to be shifted to safer places

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