Amid heavy rainfall and landslides in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, more than 200 people, mostly tourists, have been left stranded in a 15-km-long traffic jam due to a blockade on the Manali-Chandigarh national highway.
Roads have remained blocked since last evening after several areas along the highway saw landslides and flash floods amid continuous rains.
The alternative route via Kataula-Kamand is also blocked due to a landslide. The local administration diverted traffic for light motor vehicles via Chail Chowk but the heavy traffic on the route has choked it, resulting in long traffic jams, reported Hindustan Times.
Officials said that restoration work is underway and explosives are being used to blast heavy boulders blocking the road. They added that the road will be open to traffic movement only after seven-eight hours, as reported by news agency PTI.
But continuous rain has been hampering the restoration work.
There are commuters who are stranded since last evening as a large number of vehicles have queued up on both sides of Aut area on the Pandoh-Kullu stretch.
“We have been stuck since last evening as the road is closed leading to a traffic jam and a huge number of vehicles are stranded on both sides of the road at Aut and six miles,” a commuter told PTI.
Commuters have been advised against moving towards Mandi until the road is opened.
Following reports of several landslides, authorities stopped the tourists and asked them to head back. But, the long traffic jam made it difficult for them to do so.
People stuck in the traffic are having a harrowing time and had to spend the night in their vehicles due to the unavailability of hotel rooms.