Fresh snowfall on mountains near Manali and Imp Instruction for travellers

All the peaks near Manali including Rohtang, Deo Tibba, Hanuman Tibba, Seven Sisters, Hamta pass, Makarved and Shikarved are receiving heavy snowfall on Monday. Kullu, Manali, Mandi, Dharamshala, Dalhousie, Khajiar, Shimla and Kinnaur are experiencing heavy to moderate rains. Snow has blocked the Manali-Leh highway at Rohtang pass and Baralacha-la. The minimum temperature in Manali on Monday was recorded at 8.4 degrees Celsius while the maximum temperature was 18.1 degrees Celsius. Landslides on Chandigarh-Manali national highway has made the driving extremely dangerous practice.

Hello traveller!!!

If you are visiting Himachal (Kinnaur, Dharamshal, Dalhousie, Kullu-Manali, Spiti, Shimla) and Ladakh in your own car (or any vehicle), please keep in mind few important things as landslides, snowfall or cold weather can make it really tough for you as you may be stranded for hours due to highway blockages in “No Civilization Areas”:

1. Keep ready some woollens. (A warm clothe for each traveller)

2. Keep some bottles of drinking water and some food for at least 12 hours.

3. Do not park your vehicle below steep hill as it may slide any time.

4. Avoid going close to rivers, brooks or streams as they may flood withing few seconds.

5. If you are forced to sleep inside the vehicle with heater on, don’t sleep keeping all windows shut. Keep some space for air, otherwise, the gas (nigtrogen-dioxide) may kill you while you are asleep.

6. If you are trapped in snow/blizzards on the mountainous highway and your mobile network does not work, do not leave your car and dont dare to find your way back to destination on foot. You may loose the actual path. Stay near the car and on the highway. This way, rescue teams will search you easily within few hours.

7. Avoid driving in nighttime, especially on passes like Rohtang, Baralacha-la.

8. If you are travelling on Manali-Leh highway, own a BSNL postpaid connection because this is the only service provider which allows you to make call even in Ladakh. However, in all 474-km-long Manali-Leh highway, cellular network works only in about 150-km-stretch. Pre-paid connections do not work in Ladakh.