As heavy monsoon rain battered the hill state, which has recorded at least nine deaths in flash floods and landslides in the past three days, hundreds of tourists and locals were left stranded in cars and buses in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh over the past 24 hours. The Chandigarh-Manali national highway remained closed until Monday evening.
The situation in Jammu and Kashmir was equally precarious as landslides and stones shooting down hillsides at various locations, including the Mehad area of Ramban, forced the closure of the 250 km Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only all-weather road connecting the valley with the rest of the country, as well as the alternate Mughal Road, until Monday afternoon.
The traffic police tweeted, “NH-44 blocked…. People are advised not 2 travel till restoration work is completed.” Workers managed to clear the highway partially for one-way traffic. The busy Chandigarh-Manali highway was among 301 roads closed in Himachal since Sunday because of landslides and flash floods. The alternative route of Kullu-Bajaura-Kataula-Mandi was blocked too.
Tourists attempting to leave the soggy hills were forced to spend the night in their vehicles on the Chandigarh-Manali route due to a traffic jam that stretched for several kms close to Pandoh, a landslide-prone area. Many people were observed trudging many kms in search of restaurants.
Authorities in Kullu said the rain and size of debris slowed down workers and machines clearing the highway. “The boulders are so huge that some of them may have to be blasted with dynamites,” an official said.