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,
With Rohtang pass officially opened for vehicular traffic on Tuesday after a gap of five months, 52 vehicles carrying 293 people crossed over to Lahaul valley from Kullu. All the passengers were farmers who wanted to reach home for farming activities. With the first batch of vehicles entering the valley, Lahaul, which was cut off from rest of the country since mid-November, has reconnected by road. Hundreds of farmers who have stuck in Kullu and other parts of the state have been permitted to enter Lahaul-Spiti district where sowing season has started. Before this, 98 farmers had entered the valley on Saturday after walking for 3km across the Rohtang as snow clearing work on this stretch was continuing. The people are undergoing medical check-up before and after traversing Rohtang pass. Five farmers, who were found medically unfit, were sent back to Kullu on Saturday. The labourers and non-residents are not being allowed to enter the valley. The vehicles from Kullu were allowed to go till Rohtang pass from where passengers were shifted to other vehicles that came from Lahaul. The Young Drukpa Association (YDA) of Lahaul is sanitizing all the vehicles at Koksar that are bringing passengers from Rohtang pass. The association president Sonam Jangpo said they don’t want to take any risk. “Kullu is safe zone with no Covid-19 case so far. Still, we can’t take it lightly. All the vehicles entering the valley with passengers from Kullu are being sanitized at Koksar, the first village of the valley.” According to officials, an incident of the avalanche was reported between Rahni nullah and Marhi on Tuesday and it took over one hour to clear the debris. The freshly opened road with high walls of snow on both sides is still dangerous for vehicular movement. The Border Roads Organization (BRO) has stationed its machinery at Rohtang to deal with any situation. BRO has to keep clearing
With Rohtang pass officially opened for vehicular traffic on Tuesday after a gap of five months, 52 vehicles carrying 293 people crossed over to Lahaul valley from Kullu. All the passengers were farmers who wanted to reach home for farming activities. With the first batch of vehicles entering the valley, Lahaul, which was cut off from rest of the
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
In this page, we shall keep you updated about the Manali-Rohtang pass road status. (If this page is not loading properly in your browser, click on the above image) Keep visiting this page to stay updated about Manali-Rohtang highway status. >> Track Manali-Leh highway status in 2020
In this page, we shall keep you updated about the Manali-Rohtang pass road status. (If this page is not loading properly in your browser, click on the above image) Keep visiting this page to stay updated about Manali-Rohtang highway status. >> Track Manali-Leh highway status in 2020
In this page, we shall keep updating the Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) impacts on the Himachal and Kullu Manali Tourism. Update on April 01, 2020 Hoteliers demand govt help as Himachal’s tourism set to demolish The whole year’s tourism of Himachal is set to demolish due to Covid-19, with thousands losing their jobs, peak summer tourism season from April to June sacrificed to deadly disease and even three month EMI moratorium incapable of saving many hoteliers from bankruptcy in next few months. Tourism is the largest employer in Himachal. The whole tourism industry of the state largely depends on three months – April, May and June – when lakhs of tourists make beeline to hill stations to get respite from the scorching heat. Rest of the nine months are considered lean season when very few tourists visit Himachal. Early April is the time when hoteliers used to start maintenance and repair works of the hotels to welcome tourist crowd. The beginning of April has brought tension among hoteliers who have no reason to decorate their hotels for the first time in decades as tourist movement across the world has come to a complete standstill. The limited and seasonal tourism season of Himachal almost being crashed, thousands of hoteliers, travel agents, taxi operators and tourism activities operators have lost all hopes till next summer season in 2021. Thousands of people who have got job in hotels, travel agencies and other places are also worried for their future. The three month moratorium on loans offered by banks is inadequate to heal the wounds of tourism industry of Himachal. Hundreds of hotels in Himachal have been recently built. Large numbers of hotels in state are still under construction. Over 50 per cent of the hotels owe thousands of crore to the banks.
In this page, we shall keep updating the Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) impacts on the Himachal and Kullu Manali Tourism. Update on April 01, 2020 Hoteliers demand govt help as Himachal’s tourism set to demolish The whole year’s tourism of Himachal is set to demolish due to Covid-19, with thousands losing their jobs, peak
The country will celebrate Holi festival on March 9 but a unique 40-day-long Holi festivity started in Kullu after pulling the chariot of Lord Raghunath and people throwing gulal on each other on Thursday. The Holi celebrations in Kullu begin 40 days in advance on the occasion of Basant Panchami every year. Thousands of people thronged the Rath Maidan of Kullu to celebrate the occasion. The puja started from Raghunath temple and the idol of the deity was brought to the Rath Maidan in its palanquin. Throwing gulal at each other and chanting “Raghunath Ji Ki Jai”, the crowd then pulled the chariot to the Dussehra ground to perform the rituals. The puja started from Raghunath temple and the idol of the deity was brought to the Rath Maidan in its palanquin. Throwing gulal at each other and chanting “Raghunath Ji Ki Jai”, the crowd then pulled the chariot to the Dussehra ground to perform the rituals. Holi will be played at Raghunath temple for 40 days till March 10. The reunion of Lord Rama and Bharat remains the main attraction of the event while a person impersonating Lord Hanuman with Hanuman Sindoor applied to his entire body remains present at the occasion. People try to touch the Hanuman and also the rope to pull the chariot as it is considered auspicious. Rath yatra of Lord Raghunath during Basant Panchami at Kullu on January 30 Maheshwar Singh, chhadivardar (prime servant) of Lord Raghunath and scion of erstwhile Kullu state, said Holi and Basant Panchami are being celebrated in Kullu for decades now.“The festivity is now celebrated in a large scale. The ritual of rath-yatra on Basant Panchami was stopped for nearly 50 years due to unknown reasons. The ritual was restarted in 2009. The occasion is marked by applying colours
The country will celebrate Holi festival on March 9 but a unique 40-day-long Holi festivity started in Kullu after pulling the chariot of Lord Raghunath and people throwing gulal on each other on Thursday. The Holi celebrations in Kullu begin 40 days in advance on the occasion of Basant Panchami every year. Thousands of people
All the buildings of the mall road, the main shopping area of the Manali town, will get the traditional look with kath-kuni architectural style under the proposed beautification plan. As part of the beautification of the town, the municipal council (MC) has planned to adopt the kath-kuni style which is being adopted by the local villages for centuries. Kath-kuni being the local identification and a mark of Kullu culture, in the first phase the local civic body wants to give the buildings of the major shopping area of the town a unique new look. “All expenses will be borne by the tourism department with the help of Asian Development Bank (ADB). We are waiting for NOC from the owners of all the buildings. Either Kullu or Manali is to be selected for this project. Hopefully, we shall get NOC from all the properties very soon and the project will be sanctioned in a few months. This way all buildings will look similar and beautiful,” Manali MC president Neena Thakur said. The officials from MC and the administration held a meeting with local stakeholders on Monday and discussed in detail about this project. The mall road area is about 300m in length and all the buildings on both sides of the area will get kath-kuni makeover in the front portions. This is the main shopping area of the town which remains abuzz with tourists round the year. Kath-kuni is the architectural style in which timber is used after a certain gap while building a wall with the cutstones. The long parallel timber not just gives the structure extra stability and strength but also gives it a beautiful look. The kath-kuni structures are earthquake-proof. At present, all the buildings in the Manali including hotels, residential houses, and other commercial buildings do not
All the buildings of the mall road, the main shopping area of the Manali town, will get the traditional look with kath-kuni architectural style under the proposed beautification plan. As part of the beautification of the town, the municipal council (MC) has planned to adopt the kath-kuni style which is being adopted by the local
The slopes of Solang valley near Manali, which are covered with three feet of snow, have come alive with nearly 200 athletes of the state who have thronged here for Himachal Skiing and Snowboarding Championships. The two-day-long men and women competitions in different categories started on Saturday amid snowfall. The event was inaugurated by BJP leader Dhaneshwari Thakur in the presence of many other officials. A large number of people thronged Solang to enjoy the races. The championships are being hosted by Himachal Pradesh Winter Games Association (HPWGA) under guidance of Ski and Snowboard India. The top athletes will qualify for national level championships that will be held at Auli from February 7 to 11. “Races in cross-country, cross-country sprint, slalom, and giant slalom are being conducted in both male and female categories. Athletes in both junior and senior categories are performing well. As not all athletes can represent state in national cup, we are choosing the best. Next time we are looking to host the national cup. As the skiing infrastructure is weak here, Himachal always misses in hosting Asian winter games,” HPWGA president Ludar Chand Thakur said. The officials said the state government has promised to develop the skiing infrastructure in the state which in present is in dilapidated condition. Without ski bar lifts, snow beating machines, snow-making machines and without leveling, the slopes of Narkanda and Kufri in Shimla and Solang in Manali disappoint the athletes. Although Solang slopes have hosted many national competitions, the bumpy slope with no facility makes skiing and snowboarding very challenging. Roopu Negi, secretary general of Ski and Snowboard India, the apex body for skiing and snowboarding in India, said the athletes are full of enthusiasm and are performing well. “Most of the athletes are complaining about basic amenities. Climbing up
The slopes of Solang valley near Manali, which are covered with three feet of snow, have come alive with nearly 200 athletes of the state who have thronged here for Himachal Skiing and Snowboarding Championships. The two-day-long men and women competitions in different categories started on Saturday amid snowfall. The event was inaugurated by BJP
Himachal is hosting a Pre-World Cup Paragliding Championship at Bir Billing in Himachal Pradesh from March 30 to April 5 with participation of over 100 top pilots from over 25 nations. Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (ABVIMAS) is organizing the event. So far 84 pilots from 24 countries have nominated themselves while the organizers have decided to keep a cap of 100 pilots. Besides the main competitions, Indian National Open Championship will also be organized. The registration process will be held on March 30 and competitions will start from March 31. The closing ceremony will be held on April 5. ABVIMAS Manali director Colonel Neeraj Rana, who is also the convener of the meet, said ace paraglider Brett Janaway, who holds several records in paragliding, will be the main judge of the championship. “Devu Chaudhary from Himachal will be the safety director while Miss Megdalana has agreed to take responsibility of the scorer,” he said. The overall winners will get the first, second and third prize for 2,000, 1,500 and 1,000 euros respectively. The overall winners in women category completing at first, second and third place will get a cash prize of 1,500, 1,300 and 1,100 euros respectively. The first, second and third winners in Indian National Open Championship will get cash prizes of Rs one lakh, Rs 75 thousand and Rs 50 thousand respectively. In sports class mix category, the top three winners will get cash prizes of 1,000, 700 and 500 euros respectively. Col Neeraj Rana said the preparations to host the championship are underway on a war footing. “The logo and the mascot for the event have been finalized and would be inaugurated by the chief minister. Himachal has established its unique identity as an adventure sports destination. We have mesmerizing paragliding sites.
Himachal is hosting a Pre-World Cup Paragliding Championship at Bir Billing in Himachal Pradesh from March 30 to April 5 with participation of over 100 top pilots from over 25 nations. Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (ABVIMAS) is organizing the event. So far 84 pilots from 24 countries have nominated themselves
Over 200 athletes from 23 skiing and snowboarding clubs of Himachal will throng slopes of Solang valley near Manali on January 25 to compete in different winter sports competitions. The slopes of Solang which are crying for government attention have not seen a single event this season. A national championship was held here last year, but as national competitions will be held at Auli in February, Himachal Pradesh Winter Games Association (HPWGA) is organizing a state level event only. “All the clubs of Himachal have agreed to participate in the competitions in both men and women category. The top athletes in senior and junior categories will be shortlisted for national event at Auli. The slopes are covered with thick blanket of snow. We are expecting more snowfall before the event,” HPWGA president Ludar Thakur said. Ludar, who is also former coach of Indian skiing team, said, the association is working hard to provide a platform for winter sports athletes so that they could win medals for the country in international events. “We are giving equal opportunities to all the athletes but only deserving ones will represent the state and the country. We have a large number of athletes who have represented India at the world championships and Olympics. The only problem that our athletes face is lack of skiing infrastructure. We are also working hard on strengthening skiing infrastructure,” Thakur added. This is surprising that Manali has produced a large number of winter sports athletes who have represented India in Olympics and other world championships but the sole skiing slope of Manali at Solang is in dilapidated condition. The unmaintained, natural slope has no working ski lift and skiing is done on snow without grooming snow in absence of snow beating machine. The slope has no snow making machine leaving
Over 200 athletes from 23 skiing and snowboarding clubs of Himachal will throng slopes of Solang valley near Manali on January 25 to compete in different winter sports competitions. The slopes of Solang which are crying for government attention have not seen a single event this season. A national championship was held here last year,
