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
The lure of a forbidding mountain, with its sheets of deceptively beautiful snow, is a powerful draw for adventurers. Over the ages, countless explorers have heeded that primal call, scaling the treacherous ranges of the Himalayas. Still, there a few virgin peaks in the mountains – though no one knows how many. Japanese and British climbers were the first to organise expeditions to challenging peaks of the hill state, but in the absence of official records of explorers’ and mountaineers’ routes, the words “first ascent” and “unclimbed peak” become controversial. Easy approach to base camp and the relatively hassle-free procedure of obtaining permit make climbing expeditions in Himachal cheap and highly popular. A few peaks are more difficult to conquer than Mt Everest, a few have been scaled repeatedly and a few remain unexplored. While many peaks have good success rates, scaling attempts have remained unsuccessful for the most part on a few. Senior climber Rajeev Sharma, retired deputy director from Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (ABVIMAS), says there are many virgin peaks in the Mulkila and Dhauladhar ranges of Himachal. “The Akela-kela near Rohtang is a virgin peak. Many have been attempted and a few are still to be explored. Some are more challenging than the Everest. A large number of peaks in Himachal were explored by the British in the 1930s and 40s. These include White Sail, Ladakhi, Hanuman Tibba and Deo Tibba. Over 100 peaks are still virgin and unnamed,” he said. Rajeev, who has scaled the Everest twice, now organises climbing expeditions. His Japanese expedition teams have scaled seven virgin peaks in Karcha Nullah and Parang-La over the past decade. The Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) coordinator for Himachal says, “The IMF is creating a database of all the peaks with details of first ascents.” As it is, there is no dearth of explorers who want to go down in history as the first
The lure of a forbidding mountain, with its sheets of deceptively beautiful snow, is a powerful draw for adventurers. Over the ages, countless explorers have heeded that primal call, scaling the treacherous ranges of the Himalayas. Still, there a few virgin peaks in the mountains – though no one knows how many. Japanese and British climbers
Kullu-Manali attracts over 35 lakh domestic and foreigner tourists annually and not all are fascinated by the mountains, glaciers and rivers of the valley – some of them visit the Himalayan valley in search of “Malana Cream”, the world’s best charas. Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal once said: “When I was giving my introduction to a representative of Israeli senate in an international conclave, he left me stunned with words that he has listened about Kasol in India where high class marijuana is available. He shared his thought that a large number of people in Israel after completing mandatory military services rush to Kasol in Kullu to relieve themselves by puffing marijuana.” Over 98% of the tourists visit the valley to enjoy nature and adventure sports. Still, some tourists are reported to have visited the valley only for charas. Such tourists prefer staying in remote villages for a long time period. Police, who don’t want to put a negative impact on the tourism, frequently lay nakas in such areas to search for the vehicles and pedestrians. As many as 161 foreigners have been booked under NDPS Act in last 15 years. The number of domestic tourists is even more. This doesn’t mean that all tourists visit Kullu-Manali for charas. Majority of tourists, both Indian and Foreigners, do not know that charas is produced in Kullu and is available here. Some people here say though charas put negative impact on youth but it is helping in rise in tourist footfall. A large number of local residents and politicians have been demanding to legalize cannabis cultivation, but fearing its misuse to make charas has forced lawmakers to make strict rules under NDPS Act. High on charas, foreigners bring notoriety to land of gods What attracts lakhs of backpackers from abroad to Kullu valley every
Kullu-Manali attracts over 35 lakh domestic and foreigner tourists annually and not all are fascinated by the mountains, glaciers and rivers of the valley – some of them visit the Himalayan valley in search of “Malana Cream”, the world’s best charas. Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal once said: “When I was giving my introduction
Beas river, the lifeline and a major tourist attraction of Kullu, will see a facelift very soon as Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change with help of Himalayan Forest Research Institute is working on rejuvenation and conservation of this beautiful and holy river. Hundreds of crores rupees would be spent for the rejuvenation of all the major river basins of Himachal on the lines of Namami Gange Project - National Mission for Clean Ganga. On the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to preserve the river basins, a detailed project report (DPR) for rejuvenation, conservation and development of Beas river basin would be prepared shortly. The Himalayan Forest Research Institute (HFRI), the nodal agency for the project in Himachal, has started to complete all the formalities for the purpose. In its first step, the department of forest has been made a nodal department for preparation of DPR. A meeting was held at the office of forest department (wildlife wing), Kullu, where officials from different departments and municipal council took part. Similar meetings will held in other districts as well. Conservator of forest, Anil Sharma, said involvement of all the departments, civic bodies and local residents would be ensured to prepare a perfect DPR. “We shall include all aspects of conservation of forest, water, flood control, plantation, agriculture, horticulture, livelihood of locals and overall development in the DPR. The project report should be based on local circumstances and should meet expectations of residents,” he said. Project coordinator Dr Vineet Jishtu said HFRI has been made nodal agency to prepare DPR for five main rivers of Himachal where forest department will work as nodal department. He adds, “These are not just rivers carrying the water. A whole civilization is dependent on a river. We expect valuable suggestions from maximum people for
Beas river, the lifeline and a major tourist attraction of Kullu, will see a facelift very soon as Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change with help of Himalayan Forest Research Institute is working on rejuvenation and conservation of this beautiful and holy river. Hundreds of crores rupees would be spent for the rejuvenation of
दिल में कुछ कर गुजरने की तमन्ना हो तो कोई भी बाधा मंजिल के आड़े नहीं आ सकती। इस बात को सार्थक कर दिखाया है अंतरराष्ट्रीय स्कीयर बन चुकी मनाली के एक छोटे से गांव बुरूआ की आंचल ने। नन्हीं आंचल जब नंगे पांव बर्फ पर बेखौफ भाग जाया करती थी और मां के बार-बार टोकने पर भी माईनस तापमान में अठखेलियां करने से बाज नहीं आती थी। भूख-प्यास सब कुछ भूल जाती थी। आंचल दूसरे बच्चों की तरह लकड़ी के तीन फट्टे जोड़कर आईस बन चुकी बर्फ पर फिसलने के बचपन के आनंद को कभी नहीं भुला सकती। गांव के स्कूल सरस्वती विद्या मंदिर में प्रारम्भिक शिक्षा प्राप्त करने के दौरान वह कई बार स्कूल से छुट्टी के बाद सीधे घर नहीं आती थी, बल्कि बस्ते और किताबों की परवाह किए बगैर बर्फ की ढलानों की ओर चली जाती और देर सांय ही घर वापिस लौटती। कई बार आंचल के पिता को उसे घर वापिस लाने के लिए स्वयं जाना पड़ता था। हालांकि, आंचल के पिता भी साहसिक खेल स्कीइंग के काफी शौकीन रहे हैं जिसके चलते वह अपनी बेटी की जिद्द पर कदापि उसे फटकार नहीं लगाते थे। आंचल अब आठवीं कक्षा में हो चुकी थी और बिना बताए चुपके से एक दिन वह अपने पिता का स्कीइंग सैट लेकर बर्फ की ढलानों पर चली गई। चूंकि वह अभी स्कीइंग सैट को संभालने के काबिल नहीं थी जिसके कारण उसके पैरों और टांगों में अनेक जगहों पर चोटें आई। उसे अच्छे से स्कीइंग सैट को लगाना भी नहीं आ रहा था। पिता को यह सब देखकर एक बार बुरा अवश्य लगा, लेकिन वह आंचल के जुनून से बेखबर भी नहीं थे। वह समझ चुके थे कि आंचल अब रूकने वाली नहीं है और डांट-फटकार तो फिजूल है। आंचल के पिता रोशन लाल ने उस दिन के बाद स्वयं
दिल में कुछ कर गुजरने की तमन्ना हो तो कोई भी बाधा मंजिल के आड़े नहीं आ सकती। इस बात को सार्थक कर दिखाया है अंतरराष्ट्रीय स्कीयर बन चुकी मनाली के एक छोटे से गांव बुरूआ की आंचल ने। नन्हीं आंचल जब नंगे पांव बर्फ पर बेखौफ भाग जाया करती थी और मां के बार-बार
In 2024, when you will visit Kullu-Manali for a holiday trip, your car or bus will pass through nearly seven long tunnels. In this advancement, a 2.9km-long tunnel has been completed at Aut, about 60km from Manali, on Saturday. After completion of all the 14 tunnels between Kiratpur and Manali, travel time to Manali will decrease drastically. The journey will be extremely thrilling and safe as well. Every time you will come out of a dark tunnel, it will open up to a beautiful and different landscape. Currently, there is only one such motorable tunnel on Delhi-Chandigarh-Manali national highway at Aut. The length of the tunnel is about 2.8km. Meanwhile, 8.9km-long Rohtang tunnel on Manali-Leh highway is also expected to open for traffic by 2020. These tunnels will also cut short the distance. Once four-laning of the Kiratpur-Manali national highway is complete, travel time between Chandigarh and Manali will cut short from 10 hours to 7 hours. Similarly, it will take nearly 11 to 12 hours to travel from Delhi to Manali. The boring of 2.9km-long motorable tunnel, one of the 10 such tunnels being built by National Highway Authority of Indian (NHAI) between Aut and Pandoh in Mandi district of Himachal, completed on Saturday. The work has completed five months before the deadline by Afcons, the company that has been awarded the tunneling job last year. A total of 14 tunnels are proposed to be built to make Kiratpur-Kullu road a four-lane highway. One of the challenging tunnels, work on which had started in September last year, is ready for final finishing. The boring of the tunnel had started from both sides with New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), the same method which was applied to build the Rohtang tunnel. The engineers from both ends met with each other in
In 2024, when you will visit Kullu-Manali for a holiday trip, your car or bus will pass through nearly seven long tunnels. In this advancement, a 2.9km-long tunnel has been completed at Aut, about 60km from Manali, on Saturday. After completion of all the 14 tunnels between Kiratpur and Manali, travel time to Manali will
The scientists will soon assess the tourism carrying capacity of hill stations of Himalayan regions of the country and will make a report on impact of tourism on local environment and livelihood. The scientists of GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development are doing a detailed study on carrying capacity of hill stations. A meeting was held at the regional centre of the institute at Kullu on Friday where scientists, officials from different departments and NGOs working in environment protection took part. Concerned for the balance between environment, development and growing tourism, the scientists and officials discussed on various environment related issues. “The burning issues like environmental balance and security of interests of local people are coming to light while developing tourism industry in the hill stations. It requires a large, long-term and holistic policy. This was the reason behind organizing this consultation meeting so that a practical policy could be framed with help from all the departments,” scientist from the institute RK Singh said. The hills stations of the country, especially in the hills stations, get crowded during summer season. The crowd not only leaves behind tonnes of trash but also put extra pressure on the available resources like water, roads and electricity. Increase in traffic leads to air and sound pollution. The vehicles leave the roads jammed for hours. No agency has so far studied the safe carrying capacity of hill stations. The scientists from the government institute will be studying it for the first time. Scientist Vaibhav Eknath Gosavi, Dr Lipika Sharma, Dr Abhay Sharma and Dr Shiv Pal described how environment related problems and conflicts between different sections are natural during growth of the tourism industry in mountainous regions. “The institute is studying deeply to prepare the guidelines for carrying capacity. Detailed discussion
The scientists will soon assess the tourism carrying capacity of hill stations of Himalayan regions of the country and will make a report on impact of tourism on local environment and livelihood. The scientists of GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development are doing a detailed study on carrying capacity of hill
वन, परिवहन, युवा सेवाएं व खेल मंत्री गोविंद सिंह ठाकुर ने कहा कि रोहतांग दर्रा कुल्लू तथा लाहौल-स्पिति जिलों का ताज है और इसके वैभव को बनाए रखना अति आवश्यक है। उन्होंने कहा कि रोहतांग पर वर्ष में लगभग आठ महीनों तक बर्फ की एक बड़ी परत उपलब्ध रहती है, जो साहसिक गतिविधियों के लिए एक बेहतर माहौल प्रदान करती है। उन्होंने कहा कि हर वर्ष रोहतांग के दीदार को लाखों देशी व विदेशी सैलानी आते हैं जिससे यहां के पर्यटन को बढ़ावा मिलता है। गोविंद ठाकुर ने कहा कि यद्यपि प्रकृति ने रोहतांग को नैसर्गिक सौंदर्य से नवाजा है, लेकिन राज्य सरकार सैलानियों के लिए अतिरिक्त सुविधाओं के सृजन पर बल दे रही है। उन्होंने कहा कि रोहतांग दर्रे के आस-पास स्कीइंग, पैराग्लाईडिंग, स्नो स्कूटर आदि अनेक साहसिक गतिविधियों की संभावना मौजूद है और इसका समुचित दोहन किया जाएगा। उन्होंने कहा कि इससे पर्यटन को और पंख लगेंगे जिससे युवाओं को रोजगार के अवसर प्राप्त होंगे। वन व परिवहन मंत्री ने शुक्रवार को जनजातीय जिला लाहौल-स्पिति के दो दिवसीय प्रवास के उपरांत कुल्लू वापसी के दौरान रोहतांग, मढ़ी, गुलाबा और कोठी का दौरा किया। उन्होंने इन स्थानों पर ढांचागत विकास, पर्यटन और साहसिक खेल गतिविधियों की संभावनाओं का जायजा लिया तथा अधिकारियों को आवश्यक दिशा-निर्देश जारी किए। गोविंद सिंह ने कहा कि रोहतांग और इसके आस-पास के पर्यटक स्थलों के सौंदर्यीकरण तथा एनजीटी के निर्देशों की अनुपालना सुनिश्चित करने के लिए वन विभाग के माध्यम से विशेष कदम उठाए जा रहे हैं। गुलाबा में लगभग 45 लाख की लागत से नेचर पार्क विकसित किया जा रहा है। इसमें विभिन्न प्रजातियों के पेड़ लगाने के साथ-साथ पर्यटकों के लिए कई सुविधाएं मुहैया करवाई जाएंगी। यह पार्क कारगिल युद्ध के शहीदों को समर्पित किया जाएगा। नेचर पार्क सैलानियों तथा स्थानीय लोगों को अनेक सुविधाएं प्रदान करेगा। 12 हैक्टेयर में बनने वाले
वन, परिवहन, युवा सेवाएं व खेल मंत्री गोविंद सिंह ठाकुर ने कहा कि रोहतांग दर्रा कुल्लू तथा लाहौल-स्पिति जिलों का ताज है और इसके वैभव को बनाए रखना अति आवश्यक है। उन्होंने कहा कि रोहतांग पर वर्ष में लगभग आठ महीनों तक बर्फ की एक बड़ी परत उपलब्ध रहती है, जो साहसिक गतिविधियों के लिए
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.
Kullu administration on Tuesday imposed complete ban on water sports including river rafting and paragliding with immediate effect. The decision was taken given the monsoon rains and swelling water level of all rivers and their tributaries in the district. Tourism and civil aviation deputy director Bhag Chand Negi said water level is very high in Beas and other streams following the rain. “Taking precautionary measure to avoid any accident, river rafting in Beas and paragliding at all sites in Kullu have been stopped till September 15. Strict compliance of the order would be ensured,” he said. Both water and aero sports become very risky during this time. Administration bans rafting every year in monsoon season under River Rafting Act 2005 and bans paragliding under section Himachal Pradesh Aero Sports Rules, 2004. The ban is generally lifted on September 15. The administration has also requested people to stay away from rivers and nullahs during rain as sudden rise in water level can result in flood like situation. The hydel projects here also release surplus water from reservoir which causes sudden rise in water level in rivers.
Kullu administration on Tuesday imposed complete ban on water sports including river rafting and paragliding with immediate effect. The decision was taken given the monsoon rains and swelling water level of all rivers and their tributaries in the district. Tourism and civil aviation deputy director Bhag Chand Negi said water level is very high in
