Monsoon fury: 200 tourists stranded at Chandratal

Dipender Manta

Mandi, July 9

Heavy rain wreaked havoc in Mandi and Lahaul and Spiti districts today. Rainwater entered houses, bridges were damaged and many roads were blocked in both districts due to landslides and flash floods.

Chandigarh-Manali highway blocked

• As many as 203 roads, including the Chandigarh-Manali highway, are blocked in Mandi district
• A villager was washed away in a rivulet in Padhar subdivision of Mandi
• Hundreds of tourists are stuck on the Manali-Leh highway, which is blocked at several locations between the Atal Tunnel and the Baralacha La

Emergency numbers

• 1070 For State Emergency Operation Centre
• 1077 For all District Emergency Operation Centres

The swollen Beas flooded the Larji powerhouse, damaging the machinery installed there. Power production was disrupted, but no loss of life was reported in the incident.

Saju Ram (70), a resident of Garh village in Padhar subdivision of Mandi district, was washed away in a rivulet while an unidentified body was found at Bindravani in Mandi.

Around 200 tourists are stranded at the Chandratal in Lahaul and Spiti district since yesterday as the Gramphu-Kaza highway was blocked, 3 km from Koksar towards Kaza. They can be evacuated only when the highway is restored to traffic, which is likely to take a day or two.

The Lahaul-Spiti administration has made accommodation and food arrangements for the stranded tourists at camping sites in the Chandratal area. Besides, hundreds of tourists are stuck on the Manali-Leh highway, which is blocked at several locations between the Atal Tunnel and the Baralacha La because of flash floods in the Pagal and Telling nullahs and landslips. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is facing difficulties in restoring the highway to traffic. The state highway that connects Lahaul to Chamba to Jammu and Kashmir is also blocked due to flash floods in the Mudgran nullah and the Jungle Camp nullah since Saturday.

Due to flash floods in the Shakoli nullah, the remote Miyar valley in Lahaul and Spiti has been cut off from the rest of the district. Yesterday, the police had rescued 30 college students, who were travelling to Manali from Spiti on the Gramphu-Kaza highway, which was blocked near Koksar. In Mandi district, 203 roads, including the Chandigarh-Manali highway, are blocked due to landslides. The floodgates of the Larji and Pandoh dams were opened after the water level in them rose alarmingly. As a result, the water level in the Beas increased drastically, damaging a road bridge connecting the Shivabadar area at Pandoh. Another bridge at Dwada was washed away. The Aut road bridge, which connects the Aut-Luhri highway, was also washed away in flash floods.