Grappling with the growing traffic pressure on poor Manali-Leh highway, the Himachal Pradesh government besides regulating traffic plans more action to protect the fragile ecology of Rohtang Pass in near future. As directed by the HP High Court, chief secretary Rajwant Sandhu has constituted a committee to prepare a proposal to reduce the traffic to Rohtang. In the corresponding series, the chief secretary on Tuesday had a discussion with principal secretary tourism and civil aviation Manisha Nanda, principal secretary transport TG Negi, Kullu DC BM Nanta and other officials to come up with a plan to solve this serious problem at Manali. Now the state and national pollution control boards have been advised to prepare a report of impact of pollution on Rohtang and Himalayas so that further action could be taken soon. "We have urged GREF and military not to ply their heavy vehicles in day time when tourist rush is high between Manali and Rohtang. We are going to install a barrier at Kothi village, 12 km beyond Manali, to regulate the traffic and also to take stock of the traffic burden on this snow point," Kullu DC BM Nanta said. As around 20,000 tourists visit Rohtang everyday in peak season and almost all of them prefer to hire their personal cab to reach here, the HP government was planning to run buses between Manali and Rohtang to decrease the traffic load. "We have talked to Himachal Pradesh Transport Corporation (HRTC) officials to make Manali-Rohtang Pass an essential route during peak summer season. If they refuse officially, we would hire buses on a lease basis," Nanta added.
Grappling with the growing traffic pressure on poor Manali-Leh highway, the Himachal Pradesh government besides regulating traffic plans more action to protect the fragile ecology of Rohtang Pass in near future. As directed by the HP High Court, chief secretary Rajwant Sandhu has constituted a committee to prepare a proposal to reduce the traffic to
