Videos: Avoid travel to Dharamshala, Manali: Administration, tour operators advise tourists

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, July 13

With further rains expected, the Kangra administration has appealed to the tourists to postpone their travel plans to Dharamshala.

Also read: Dharamsala flash floods: 10 persons missing in landslide presumed dead; 184 roads blocked in Himachal

Manali road blocked, tourists stranded

The DC said that district authorities were on high alert, and has asked the tourists to either postpone visits or to remain where they are if already in Kangra.

As a precautionary measure, all incoming flights to Dharamshala airport have been cancelled. “Due to inclement weather and heavy rains, all incoming flights to Dharamshala airport at Gaggal have been cancelled,” Gaurav Kumar, the airport’s traffic in charge, told news agency PTI.

Also, tour operators in Manali have appealed to tourists visiting Himachal Pradesh not to venture out into the mountains, forests or for other adventure activities without professional help.

The appeal from the Adventure Tour Operators Association of Manali came after a girl was swept away in the gushing waters of Hamta nullah while she was crossing the water body.

A day after the incident, there was no information about the missing girl despite hectic efforts to locate her, a professional trekker said, adding chances of her being found alive were negligible.

He said it was monsoon time in Himachal and all the streams were flooded. Overconfidence and lack of knowledge about the terrain always proved dangerous, he said. Hamta pass is a moderate graded trek, but it’s too dangerous when the weather is unfavourable, he said.

Television footage from Monday’s flooding showed swirling brown waters flowing through narrow streets at a settlement near Dharamshala, sweeping away a large car that was caught in the torrent. In another area, flood waters had damaged several homes abutting a stream, forcing residents out on the streets.

In recent weeks, thousands of tourists had thronged Himachal, including Dharamshala, Shimla and Manali, prompting warnings from authorities to maintain Covid-19 precautions after a second wave.