If you are in party or holiday mood to celebrate Christmas and New Year Eve with your family or friends, but you are not able to decide on a location to chill, you should just pack your bags and head to the Himachal where you can choose one of the dozens of beautiful locations that are ready to host you for the holiday season. With all tourist destinations of Himachal expected to remain jam-packed from December 24 to January 1 during Christmas and New Year Eve, the state is gearing up to welcome guests from all around the country. Most hotels are booked completely in advance and taxis and tourist buses are in huge demand these days. The hotel occupancy has already reached close to 40 per cent which is expected to remain above 75 per cent from December 24 onwards. Most of the good hotels in Manali, Shimla, Dharamshala, Dalhousie, Kasauli, Kasol and other popular tourist places are already booked till the new year. New tourist destination Lahaul valley has also good booking. Over one hundred luxury tourist buses from Delhi are reaching Himachal every day besides taxis and private cars. Given the current booking trends, hoteliers are expecting record tourist footfall. While increasing cases of Covid-19 is a matter of concern, the possibility of fresh snowfall after Christmas may help in increasing the footfall. A fresh wave of western disturbance is expected to hit the western Himalayas from December 25 onwards. Gajender Thakur, president of the Federation of Himachal Hotels and Restaurant Association, said, tourist footfall in the state is increasing as tourists are heading to the hills in the holiday mood. “The peak tourist season will be from December 24 to January 1. Hotels are reporting good bookings. However, some hotels have average bookings. No snowfall in the last
If you are in party or holiday mood to celebrate Christmas and New Year Eve with your family or friends, but you are not able to decide on a location to chill, you should just pack your bags and head to the Himachal where you can choose one of the dozens of beautiful locations that
Marhi, Rahla fall, Gulaba and many other places along Manali-Rohtang highway, which were closed for all kinds of vehicles in November following snowfall, have been reopened for tourists as snow has melted under the prevailing dry weather conditions. There is no snow in the lower areas near Manali. Hoteliers and taxi operators were demanding to reopen Rohtang pass during peak tourist season these days. Although travel to Rohtang is not safe, Kullu administration has ordered to reopen the highway upto Marhi, just below Rohtang pass from Wednesday onwards. Issuing orders, Kullu deputy commissioner Ashutosh Garg said the Manali-Rohtang highway was closed beyond Kothi on the recommendation of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and SDM Manali on November 21. “Manali SDM, DSP and BRO officials on December 21 had conducted a recce of the highway upto Marhi and found it suitable for general movement. The road was slippery at some places due to icing which has been cleared by BRO. The BRO has also agreed to help in traffic movement on the road until next snowfall,” he said. The DC said tourists and local taxi operators will have to adhere to some strict guidelines to be able to travel on this road. He said only four-wheel-drive vehicles will be allowed beyond Kothi between 10am and 4pm while other vehicles will be allowed after 12pm to 4pm. “The SDM and DSP at Manali will have the authority to suspend the traffic movement anytime after consultation with BRO to ensure public safety.” Tourists can see some snow in some shady areas near Beas nullah. Northern part of Rohtang pass has enough snow but administration will not allow vehicles to move beyond Marhi due to icing of the road. Also, in case of sudden snowfall, evacuation from Rohtang pass becomes very difficult. December month has
Marhi, Rahla fall, Gulaba and many other places along Manali-Rohtang highway, which were closed for all kinds of vehicles in November following snowfall, have been reopened for tourists as snow has melted under the prevailing dry weather conditions. There is no snow in the lower areas near Manali. Hoteliers and taxi operators were demanding to
Paragliding is as safe as you make it. The safety checks, quality of equipment, preparedness, wind, air pressure and visibility are the main factors that decide how safe the flight would be. With a large number of paragliding sites came up in recent years, Himachal has emerged as the top destination for paragliding in the country. With nearly a lakh tourist trying hand at (tandem) paragliding, Kullu-Manali tops the list in terms of number. And the Kullu district is also topping the list of most fatal paragliding accidents. Five persons have died in four accidents this year only while many have sustained injuries. Human error is the main reason behind maximum accidents. Tourists generally go for a tandem flight but nobody asks pilots for their license, registration and quality of the equipment. In many accidents, pilots were found to be flying without a valid license and registration with the tourism department. The pilots, who always remain in hurry to finish the flight to catch another customer, never brief the dos and don’ts to the customers who always remain in suspense that what to do next. Almost 100 per cent of the clients here are tourists. On Monday, a tourist from Chennai was killed in similar accident where tourist slipped off the safety harness and fell on the ground from altitude of hundreds of feet near Falayan in Kullu. He died on the spot. The matter, according to police, appeared to be negligence in safety check. Similar incident had happened in May 2015 when a Mumbai tourist had died of harness failure at Solang valley. Falayan, Solang, Majhach, Diyar and Kharahal are the main paragliding spots in Kullu district where thousands of tourists enjoy joy-rides. The most operators at these sites are not following the proper safety procedures. While some are
Paragliding is as safe as you make it. The safety checks, quality of equipment, preparedness, wind, air pressure and visibility are the main factors that decide how safe the flight would be. With a large number of paragliding sites came up in recent years, Himachal has emerged as the top destination for paragliding in the
On this page, we shall keep you updated about all happenings, news, work progress, history, VIP visits and everything happening at Atal Tunnel, Rohtang in Manali. Work on Atal Tunnel, a 9.02 km long engineering marvel connecting Manali with Lahaul on Manali-Leh highway, started on June 28, 2010 and it will be dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2020. Timeline of sequence of events at Atal Tunnel, Rohtang December 16, 2022: As five-day deadline to reinstall the foundation stone plaque of Sonia Gandhi at Atal tunnel ended despite chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s strict order, the officials said the order can be followed only after direction from the BRO headquarters in Delhi or Ministry of Defence. The officials of district administration in Kullu said they had visited the spot to finalise the location to install the stone plaque but Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which built the tunnel and now is responsible for its maintenance, will follow the order from higher authorities in Delhi. December 11, 2022: Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, immediately after assuming the post of chief minister of Himachal, raised the issue of removing the foundation stone plaque of Sonia Gandhi from Atal tunnel, Rohtang, after the matter was brought to his notice by MLA from Lahaul-Spiti, Ravi Thakur. The CM directed the officials to reinstall the stone plaque within five days. The then UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation stone of the Rohtang tunnel project (now Atal tunnel) on June 28, 2010. Before this, the foundation stone of the approach road from Palchan to south portal of the tunnel at Dhundi was laid by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2002. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the tunnel on October 3, 2020. To the surprise of the Congress supporters and leaders, the foundation
On this page, we shall keep you updated about all happenings, news, work progress, history, VIP visits and everything happening at Atal Tunnel, Rohtang in Manali. Work on Atal Tunnel, a 9.02 km long engineering marvel connecting Manali with Lahaul on Manali-Leh highway, started on June 28, 2010 and it will be dedicated to the
