Parts of Himachal including Rohtang pass and Lahaul valley witnessed the first snowfall of the season on Sunday night that resulted in plunging of the mercury to minus 1 degree Celsius at Keylong. The high altitude peaks of Himachal including Rohtang, Kunzum, Baralacha, parts of Pir Panjal and Dhauldadhar mountain ranges received light snow. Keylong, Jispa and Darcha in Lahaul were covered with a thin sheet of snow that melted away in few minutes on Monday morning. The peaks around Lahaul and Manali were covered with a fresh white blanket on Monday morning. However, the snow disappeared soon after the sunrise. Manali also experienced some drizzling after a gap of two months. With this, the temperature in mid and high hills has dropped suddenly. Night temperature in many places has dropped below the freezing point. Keylong, district headquarters of Lahaul-Spiti district, recorded the lowest temperature of minus 1 degrees C, the lowest of the season. Kalpa and Manali recorded minimum temperature of 2.7 and 4.2 degrees C. Minimum temperature of Shimla was recorded at 11.1 degrees C. According to Shimla meteorological centre, the minimum temperature in the state decreased by 1 to 2 degrees C in the last 24 hours and overall minimum temperature of Himachal was also 1 to 2 degrees C below the normal for this time of the season. However, the weatherman has predicted dry weather conditions in the next seven days. A large number of tourists on Monday morning rushed to Lahaul and Rohtang pass to see the fresh snow. Rohtang pass and Baralacha pass have received 5cm to 8cm of fresh snow. The light snowfall partially interrupted traffic on Leh-Manali highway in the early morning. However, traffic is moving without any problem since the afternoon. The hoteliers are still waiting for heavy snowfall on the
Parts of Himachal including Rohtang pass and Lahaul valley witnessed the first snowfall of the season on Sunday night that resulted in plunging of the mercury to minus 1 degree Celsius at Keylong. The high altitude peaks of Himachal including Rohtang, Kunzum, Baralacha, parts of Pir Panjal and Dhauldadhar mountain ranges received light snow. Keylong,
While Dussehra ended in rest parts of the country on Vijayadashmi, the weeklong Dussehra festivities of Kullu started on Sunday with the rath yatra of the Lord Raghunath in presence of just eight deities and a limited number of people. While Kullu Dussehra Committee had sent invitations to 331 deities and thousands of people were present in the rath yatra last year, a limited number of people were present in the rath yatra along with eight deities this year. The deities first paid obeisance to the Lord Raghunath, presiding deity of the festivity and then performed the rituals. The rituals of the festivities start from the royal palace where royal family dressed in traditional attire performs the rituals. Rituals started after arrival of the palanquin of Devi Hidimba. The idol of the Lord Raghunath is then brought to Rath ground for rath yatra. Not all people were allowed to pull the chariot. Administration had finalised 200 devotees for this purpose. All the devotees pulling chariot and those in procession of the deities had to undergo Covid-19 test. The chariot was pulled from Rath ground to the middle of the Dhalpur ground where it will stay for six days. The valley was echoing with the divine music of drums and trumpets. However, a limited number of musicians were allowed with each procession of the deity. On seventh day the chariot will be wheeled to the bank of Beas river to perform final rituals and then it will be brought back to Rath ground. The deities will camp at historic Dhalpur ground till October 31. Covid-19 pandemic forced administration not to invite over 300 deities of the valley this year which otherwise had caused huge crowd. Palanquins of only seven deities were allowed to come to Dussehra venue to perform the major
While Dussehra ended in rest parts of the country on Vijayadashmi, the weeklong Dussehra festivities of Kullu started on Sunday with the rath yatra of the Lord Raghunath in presence of just eight deities and a limited number of people. While Kullu Dussehra Committee had sent invitations to 331 deities and thousands of people were
On this page, we shall keep updating the Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) impacts on the Himachal and Kullu Manali Tourism. Update on Sept 21, 2020 Tourist buses stopped from entering Himachal All the tourist buses that were plying on Delhi-Manali route were prevented from entering the Himachal at Swarghat in Bilaspur district on Monday as they were engaged in inter-state movement without government permission, transport department officials said. A large number of tourists were asked to leave the buses and they had to continue their journey in the taxis. Citing Himachal government’s decision not to start interstate bus service amid Covid-19 pandemic, the regional transport officers stopped the buses and challaned them. Most of the Volvo buses were ferrying tourists for a long time. The officials had laid naka at Swarghat where buses were stopped in the wee hours and tourists were told that buses cannot drop them at the destination. An official said that the action was taken as interstate bus movement is not allowed in the state. “The buses that had left for Himachal on Sunday evening were stopped at the state entry point. Taxis were arranged for the tourists from the taxi union,” he said. Volvo buses are the main transport option to travel to Kullu-Manali from Delhi and Chandigarh. As Himachal has limited flight services, most of tourists visit Himachal in Volvo buses. Tourists avoid travelling in small taxis due to long and hectic journey and poor road condition. A few Volvo buses were providing their services to ferry stranded people and to bring labourers to the state. After state government decided to open Himachal for tourists in July first week, some of the tourists started travelling in these buses. Now that state borders have been thrown open for all from September 16, number of tourists
On this page, we shall keep updating the Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) impacts on the Himachal and Kullu Manali Tourism. Update on Sept 21, 2020 Tourist buses stopped from entering Himachal All the tourist buses that were plying on Delhi-Manali route were prevented from entering the Himachal at Swarghat in Bilaspur district on Monday as
On this page, we shall keep you updated about all happenings, news, work progress, history, VIP visits and everything happening at Atal Rohtang Tunnel (Rohtang Tunnel) in Manali. Work on Atal Rohtang Tunnel, an 8.8km 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 Rohtang Tunnel (now Atal Tunnel, Rohtang) Atal Tunnel Specifications Project Cost (As on 13 July, 2020): INR 3,500 Crore Length of Atal Tunnel: 8.8 KM Mountain Range: Pir Panjal Distance of tunnel from Manali: 25 KM Distance of tunnel from Keylong: 40 KM Distance of tunnel from Rohtang pass: 26 KM Shape of tunnel: Horseshoe Tunnel method: New Austria Tunneling Method (NATM) which uses drilling, blasting and digging Width of tunnel: 10m Altitude of the tunnel: 9,840ft to 10,170ft Tunnel designed for vehicular speed: 80 km per hour Temperature at south portal of Atal Tunnel at Dhundi: 28 degrees C (summers) to - 20 degrees C (winters) Temperature at north portal of Atal Tunnel near Sissu in Lahaul: 30 degrees C (summers) to - 30 degrees C (winters) Overburden: Maximum overburden (Pir Panjal mountain range) of 1,900m and average of over 600m Emergency escape route: An emergency tunnel (2.25m high and 3.6m wide) is running below the main carriageway/highway Vehicle capacity: 3,000 cars and 1,500 trucks Designed speed: Maximum speed of 80 km per hour and minimum speed of 30 km per hour. Features of Atal Tunnel The approach road to Atal tunnel is being secured by avalanche protection structures at avalanche-prone sites. Besides emergency exit tunnel below main tunnel, high efficiency fire sensing and extinguishing mechanism is being installed. A semi-transverse ventilation system. CCTV cameras being
On this page, we shall keep you updated about all happenings, news, work progress, history, VIP visits and everything happening at Atal Rohtang Tunnel (Rohtang Tunnel) in Manali. Work on Atal Rohtang Tunnel, an 8.8km long engineering marvel connecting Manali with Lahaul on Manali-Leh highway, started on June 28, 2010 and it will be dedicated
On this page, we shall keep you updated about snow and snowfall status at Rohtang pass, Solang Valley, Manali and other tourist places of Kullu-Manali in 2020. (If this page is not loading properly in your browser, click on the above image) Update on January 09, 2020 Tourists have tough time as snow blocks roads in Manali As heavy snowfall in Manali blocked all the roads here since Tuesday evening, thousands of tourists remained stranded in the roads for hours without meal and water. While heavy snowfall brought joy to some tourists and farmers, it has also bought troubles with it. A large number of tourists got stuck between Kullu and Manali on Tuesday night as the road had become slippery after thick layer of snow deposited on the surface. While many tourists missed their buses, trains and flights, many had to walk on snow for hours to reach destination along with kids and elderly. Snowfall continued for the whole day on Wednesday and tourists got no relief. The road became motorable from Kullu to Aluground, 5km from here, but vehicles could not move beyond it for the whole day. This resulted in long traffic jam and hundreds of tourist vehicles got stranded here. Many tourists parked their cars on the roadsides and searched for shelter to spend the night. Almost all the hotels, guesthouses and homestays between Kullu and Manali were fully occupied by tourists on Tuesday late night. Nearly 40 tourist buses leaves Manali for Delhi and similar number of buses come to Manali from Delhi every day. The tourist buses could not come beyond Patlikuhal, 18km from here, and tourists were dropped in the mid-way. Similarly, thousands of tourists stuck in Manali had to reach Patlikuhal to catch their bus to Delhi. As only four-wheel drive vehicles
On this page, we shall keep you updated about snow and snowfall status at Rohtang pass, Solang Valley, Manali and other tourist places of Kullu-Manali in 2020. (If this page is not loading properly in your browser, click on the above image) Update on January 09, 2020 Tourists have tough time as snow blocks roads
