NEW DELHI: A landslide hit the Chandigarh-Manali highway near Manali in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday.This comes as Himachal Pradesh is reeling under heavy rain and flash floods.
In a video shared by news agency PTI, a large chunk of the mountain was seen crumbling down.Meanwhile, the road connecting Old Manali was severely damaged due to a flash flood.Taxi driver Ram Sukhvinder Parmar said, “My car was previously stuck in the tunnel for 5-6 days, but now it is stuck here. Two days have passed, and the road is now completely damaged. The entire road up to Mandi is damaged. The administration is working slowly to rebuild the road due to the rain. There are also many tourists here. The government should make an effort to repair this road soon.”The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has launched urgent restoration work on the Kiratpur-Pandoh-Kullu-Manali section of National Highway 21 after severe floods, cloudbursts, and flash floods damaged key stretches, cutting off road connectivity to the tourist town of Manali.According to a press release issued by the NHAI’s Regional Office in Shimla on Friday, NHAI Chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav held a review meeting with senior headquarters officials and field engineers to assess the extent of the damage and plan immediate restoration measures.The release said that ten locations on the Kullu-Manali section had been “completely washed away” and five more had suffered partial damage due to “torrent rains and floods,” disrupting the main highway link.The India Meteorological Department has issued warnings for more rain and possible cloudbursts in the next 48 hours, raising concerns about further landslides, flash floods, and road blockages in hilly districts, including Kullu, Mandi, and Kinnaur.Severe weather over the past week has caused widespread disruptions to transportation, power, and water supplies in the state, affecting both local residents and tourists. NHAI said it is “actively working to ensure quick recovery and to minimise further impact on travel and commerce in these vulnerable areas.”
