No raft is floating on the rivers, skies have no paragliders, the rugged terrains are missing the ATVs, challenging Himalayan trails have no hikers and nobody is skiing down the backcountry slopes in Himachal. With tourism around the world coming to a standstill, the adventure tourism industry of the state has also been hit hard, leaving thousands jobless. Not just the hoteliers, thousands of people operating adventure tourism have been left jobless by the Covid-19. Himachal has emerged as a top adventure tourism hub of the world where adventure enthusiasts from around the world come for all kind of activities. Paragliding, rafting, mountaineering, skiing, heli-skiing, ATV rides and almost every adventure activity is available in the state. As tourism is expected to take many more months to come back on the track, thousands of adventure activity operators are worrying for their future. “All the industries have been hit by the Covid-19 but tourism industry has suffered the most. The agriculture, horticulture, construction, trades and all industries are returning to normalcy one by one. But the tourism will take a long time to resume. All the adventure activities too have come to a grinding halt. Thousands have lost their jobs. Now everybody is looking at government for relief,” Adventure Tour Operators Association president Roshan Lal said. Adventure tourism in Himachal has become a multi-crore industry that runs almost round the year except for monsoon season. It has become one of the largest employers in the state. May and June are the peak season when lakhs of tourists try hand at various activities in the state especially in Kullu, Shimla, Kangra and Chamba districts. The state has all the activities except for bungee jumping. The government was to start setting up world’s highest bungee jumping near Marhi at altitude of about 11,000ft
No raft is floating on the rivers, skies have no paragliders, the rugged terrains are missing the ATVs, challenging Himalayan trails have no hikers and nobody is skiing down the backcountry slopes in Himachal. With tourism around the world coming to a standstill, the adventure tourism industry of the state has also been hit hard,
The incessant rains in Kullu district have wreaked havoc as rivers are in flood, major roads and bridges are closed, people living close to rivers have started shifting to safe areas and landslides preventing people from going from one place to other. Both Manali-Rohtang-Leh and Manali-Chandigarh national highways are closed. A government school building at Palchan village has collapsed due to flood in Beas. A major bailey bridge at Akhara bazaar of Kullu that connects the Kullu town with left bank of Beas has been closed for traffic following Beas river damaged the approach road to the bridge.Two trucks and their drivers got stuck in the middle of the Beas at Patlikuhal near Manali after water level rose suddenly. Both, identified as Nand Kishor and Ravi, residents of Rajasthan, were rescued with the help of a rope and hydra crane.\n Traffic on Chandigarh-Manali national highway is stopped from Kullu and Mandi sides after a stretch of highway submerged near Duwada in Mandi district. While the buses and other heavy vehicles are stopped completely, light vehicles are being diverted to bypass road via Katola. A large number of buses, including tourist buses, are stopped at Bajaura. Police said the traffic will be resumed only after water level recedes and road becomes safe. The 38 Border Roads Task Force commander Col Uma Shankar said the Manali-Leh highway has also been blocked due to floods and landslides. “Massive landslides at Teling nullah and Pagal nullah in Lahaul have blocked the highway. We have cleared debris at Teling nullah but another slide has blocked it again. Machines are engaged to clear pagal nullah stretch. We have seen multiple landslides in 24 hours. We are working hard to resume traffic.” Chandigarh-Manali NH submerges near AutAll the water streams between Rohtang and Sarchu are in spate
The incessant rains in Kullu district have wreaked havoc as rivers are in flood, major roads and bridges are closed, people living close to rivers have started shifting to safe areas and landslides preventing people from going from one place to other. Both Manali-Rohtang-Leh and Manali-Chandigarh national highways are closed. A government school building at
Kullu-Manali, where the government is promoting ecotourism, has witnessed unprecedented plantation in the last five years as people here have made it a mission to cover all available forest land with different species of trees. All this started after National Green Tribunal (NGT) slammed Himachal government and Kullu administration on various environmental issues multiple times. Concerned over the fragile ecology of Rohtang area being damaged by increasing tourism and increasing number of vehicles, NGT had asked state government to regulate tourism and plant trees. Lakhs of new saplings are being planted every year. Be it forest department, mahila mandal, yuvak mandal, panchayats, hoteliers, taxi operators, stakeholders or villagers, all are rushing for plantation during monsoon season. Burua panchayat of Manali alone has planted more than one lakh saplings in last few years. Both government and private schools have contributed to increase the green cover in the district. While the plantation drive was mostly influenced by environmentalists who are concerned over global warming, the drive was also meant for appeasing NGT as it was unhappy from pollution harming the ecology of Rohtang and nearby area. Over 60 thousand saplings planted below Rohtang in a couple of years earned Sarvottam Paudhropan Puraskar to the forest guard Neeraj Thakur. Kullu divisional forest officer Dr Neeraj Chadha, who helped in making plantation drive a mission in Kullu and implemented NGT order efficiently won Aranya Gaurav Puraskar from Himachal government. “Plantation has become a mission for people here. Be it students, women or elderly, all are coming forward for the green cause. Even these days plantation is continuing at multiple places. Local women are playing an important role. We are providing suitable species to the people and are protecting the area under new plantation by fencing,” DFO Dr Neeraj Chadha said. The mahila mandals in
Kullu-Manali, where the government is promoting ecotourism, has witnessed unprecedented plantation in the last five years as people here have made it a mission to cover all available forest land with different species of trees. All this started after National Green Tribunal (NGT) slammed Himachal government and Kullu administration on various environmental issues multiple times.
माॅनसून पूर्व तैयारियों को लेकर जिला स्तरीय बैठक आयोजित जिले के किसी भी भाग में किसी भी प्रकार की आपदा से निपटने के लिए सभी विभागों को उपयुक्त तालमेल के साथ एक टीम की तरह कार्य करना चाहिए। आपदा के दौरान क्षति को कम करने तथा राहत व बचाव कार्यों में प्रत्येक विभाग और व्यक्ति का योगदान आवश्यक है। यह बात उपायुक्त ऋचा वर्मा ने आज यहां आयोजित माॅनसून पूर्व तैयारियों को लेकर जिला स्तरीय बैठक की अध्यक्षता करते हुए कही। उन्होंने कहा कि कुल्लू जिला अनेक प्रकार की आपदाओं की दृष्टि से संवेदनशील है और पहले से ही सभी विभागों को आवश्यक ऐहतियाती प्रबंध कर लेने चाहिए। ऋचा वर्मा ने कहा कि बहुत सारे ऐसे उपाय हैं जो अनेक आपदाओं को आने से रोक सकते हैं। इन छोटे-छोटे उपायों और आपदा प्रबंधन पर संबंधित विभागों को गहन अध्ययन की आवश्यकता है। उन्होंने कहा कि माॅनसून के दौरान ल्हासे गिरना अथवा भूःस्खलन जैसी समस्याएं अधिक रहती हैं। लोक निर्माण विभाग तथा राष्ट्रीय राजमार्ग प्राधिकरण को सड़कों के आस-पास नालियों व पानी निकासी की समुचित व्यवस्था करनी चाहिए। उन्होंने संबंधित विभागों को आपदा की दृष्टि से जिले के संवेदनशील स्थलों को चिन्हित करके इसकी रिपोर्ट सौंपने को कहा। निर्बाध स्वच्छ पेयजल आपूर्ति सुनिश्चित करें आईपीएच उपायुक्त ने सिंचाई एवं जनस्वास्थ्य विभाग को जिले में गर्मियों के दौरान सभी भागों में स्वच्छ व निर्बाध जलापूर्ति सुनिश्चित बनाने को कहा। उन्होंने कहा कि पानी की कमी वाले क्षेत्रों में हैण्ड पंपों को तुरंत क्रियाशील बनाया जाए, ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में स्थानीय लोगों के सहयोग से पारम्परिक जल-स्त्रोतों बावड़ियों इत्यादि की सफाई करवाने की व्यवस्था की जाए। हालांकि अधीक्षण अभियंता ने बैठक में अवगत करवाया कि जिला में सभी पेयजल योजनाएं कार्य कर रही हैं और कहीं पर भी पानी की कमी नहीं है। अभी तक टैंकरों से पानी उपलब्ध करवाने की भी आवश्यकता नहीं पड़ी
माॅनसून पूर्व तैयारियों को लेकर जिला स्तरीय बैठक आयोजित जिले के किसी भी भाग में किसी भी प्रकार की आपदा से निपटने के लिए सभी विभागों को उपयुक्त तालमेल के साथ एक टीम की तरह कार्य करना चाहिए। आपदा के दौरान क्षति को कम करने तथा राहत व बचाव कार्यों में प्रत्येक विभाग और व्यक्ति
As elections are nearing, Border Roads Organization (BRO) has speeded up snow clearance operations along Manali-Rohtang-Keylong highway. Rohtang, which is still experiencing fresh snowfall, is expected to open for tourists by end of May or early June. Meanwhile, people have continued to cross Rohtang on-foot while local authorities are helping some people in traversing Rohtang tunnel. On Wednesday, nearly ten people had left Manali for Lahaul but they failed to withstand blizzards on Rohtang and had to return back to Manali. Rescue post at Marhi and Koksar have now alerted pedestrians not to go towards Rohtang pass which has received nearly 15cm of more snow on Wednesday. The temperature in Manali and Lahaul valley has sharply dipped after snowfall on hills and rain in the lower regions. People had to wear sweaters and jackets to protect them from cold. With target to resume traffic on Manali-Keylong highway before election, BRO jawans are working till late evening to clear snow from the highway. The machines have successfully cut through the snow and ice walls of Rahni nullah, the most difficult stretch of the road where snow depth was more than 40ft. Jawans from Manali side will clear road of snow till Rohtang within a week but it may take at least two more weeks for other BRO team to reach the pass from opposite side. BRO is still cutting 10 to 20ft deep snow and have reached nearly 1km beyond Rahni nullah. The weather has again turned inclement but BRO machines are unstoppable. BRO’s focus is on connecting Lahaul with Manali. Then organization shall concentrate on clearing snow from Darcha-Sarchu stretch. Be it through Rohtang tunnel or via Rohtang pass, residents of Lahaul who had migrated to Kullu or other places to spend winters have started to come back home before
As elections are nearing, Border Roads Organization (BRO) has speeded up snow clearance operations along Manali-Rohtang-Keylong highway. Rohtang, which is still experiencing fresh snowfall, is expected to open for tourists by end of May or early June. Meanwhile, people have continued to cross Rohtang on-foot while local authorities are helping some people in traversing Rohtang