Traffic jams, roadblocks disrupt travel on Chd-Manali highway

Huge traffic jams were witnessed on the Chandigarh-Manali highway on Thursday, even as over 300 roads remained blocked across Himachal Pradesh.

The weather department has issued an orange alert for heavy rainfall in parts of the state in the coming days.

The highway, which was opened for traffic on Wednesday, saw jams in Pandoh and nearby areas after the traffic was diverted through a single lane at landslide-affected areas and in Dyod, where a portion of the highway was caving in.

Hundreds of vehicles remained stuck in traffic jams throughout the day, and it took as many as six to seven hours for commuters to reach Mandi from Kullu.

The alternate Kamand-Kataula route also remained blocked for the third day on Thursday, worsening the traffic situation on the highway.

Mandi police issued an advisory asking people to travel on the Kullu-Mandi highway only if very important due to traffic congestion and the slow pace of traffic movement.

According to the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC), a total of 346 roads remained blocked in the state on Thursday, with the highest number being 164 in Mandi district, 123 in Kullu, 29 in Kangra, and 10 in Una district.

A total of 281 Distribution Transformer Regions (DTRs) also remained disrupted, and 145 water supply schemes were still to be restored in the state on Thursday.