Concerned for the safety and procreation process of snow leopard and other endangered wildlife species which descend down to lower areas after winter snowfall, the Spiti administration on Monday imposed a complete ban on car rallies in major sanctuary areas. Additional district magistrate (ADM) at Spiti Gian Sagar Negi said it has been seen that various travel agencies organise car rallies especially during winter season in Spiti valley which passes through snow leopard landscapes of Kibber wildlife sanctuary. “Animals like snow leopard, blue sheep, Himalayan serow and ibex descend down to lower elevation after snowfall in higher regions. February and March is the mating season of snow leopards. Passage of heavy vehicular traffic is not only disturbing the natural habitats of the animals but it will also adversely affect the procreation of snow leopards which are highly endangered species,” he said. The ADM imposed a ban on car rallies in Kibber wildlife sanctuary through Lidang, Demul, Komic, Hikkim and Langcha village areas and from Rangrik bridge to Chicham via Kee and Kibber villages with immediate effect. “Any violation of this order will attract legal action under Wildlife Protection Act and Section 188 of CrPC. He added that both state and Centre are making efforts for conservation of these wild animals through different projects and programmes. “The heavy rush of the vehicles and their loud sounds are disturbing the wild animals. Kibber sanctuary is home to snow leopard and many other rare species. Snow leopard sighting tours in winter season are one of the major sources of income for local residents. The car rallies are posing threat to the wild animals and will also indirectly hit the snow leopard sighting tours. This important issue was brought to my notice and imposing ban on car rallies was very important,” Negi added. A
Concerned for the safety and procreation process of snow leopard and other endangered wildlife species which descend down to lower areas after winter snowfall, the Spiti administration on Monday imposed a complete ban on car rallies in major sanctuary areas. Additional district magistrate (ADM) at Spiti Gian Sagar Negi said it has been seen that
Bollywood star Sunny Deol’s dream project “Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas” featuring his son Karan Deol is set to showcase entire Manali, the adventure sports, its people, local artists, and the scenic beauty on the silver screen globally on September 20. While the movie has provided a platform to the local actors, Himachal is expecting a boom in the tourism industry. Sunny, who has been planning to set up a film city in Manali and has close relation with the local people, had committed to make a big-budget Bollywood movie totally based in Manali. From the lead roles to supporting actors, most of the star cast of Sunny directed PPDKP is from Himachal, particularly from Manali. As the theme of the movie is based on adventure sports of Manali that brings Karan close to lead actress Sahher Bambba, the state is expecting a boom in the tourism industry after the release of the film. Sunny has chosen lead actress Sahher Bambba from Himachal. However, according to Sunny, auditions for hunt for lead actress took place in many cities and he did not know that the girl belongs to Himachal until Sahher Bambba was shortlisted. The second lead role is performed by Manali girl Ritika Thakur. Kapil Negi, who runs an adventure travel company in Manali, is also in a major role who is a friend of Karan’s father and later his mentor after his father’s death. A large portion of the film is shot at Shaleen village near Manali and Sunny has given the opportunity to a large number of villagers to show their acting skills. Himachali song “Mera Bhola Hai Bhandari” fame Hansraj Raghuvanshi is given the opportunity to sing “Adha Bhi Jyada” song of the movie. The viewers of the movie will hear a large number of Kulluvi words
Bollywood star Sunny Deol’s dream project “Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas” featuring his son Karan Deol is set to showcase entire Manali, the adventure sports, its people, local artists, and the scenic beauty on the silver screen globally on September 20. While the movie has provided a platform to the local actors, Himachal is expecting
The Manali-Spiti road, which was closed since October after heavy winter snowfall, has been reopened for vehicular traffic as Border Roads Organization (BRO) has cleared snow from Gramphoo-Kaza stretch including 14,000ft high Kunzum pass. This road connects with the Manali-Leh highway at Gramphoo, 16km north of Rohtang pass, and is a vital link to connect Lahaul valley with Spiti valley. The road further extends to Indo-China border at Sumdo. Known as one of the dangerous roads of the world, it is frequented by thousands of tourists every year. Given its strategically importance, Border Roads Organization (BRO) took over the Sumdo-Kaza-Gramphoo road from public works department a few years back. This road is now called SKG (Sumdo-Kaza-Gramphoo) road. While road till Kaza remains open even during winters, two teams of BRO clears snow from 140km Kaza-Gramphoo stretch after March. A BRO official said the snow from Spiti side was cleared till Kunzum pass many days back but clearing snow from Lahaul side was very challenging and took too much time. “The very heavy snowfall this season delayed the opening of the road. We had to clear over 30ft of snow at some places. Last year the road was opened in May. The road was damaged at some places. A large number of avalanches have hit the road. Light vehicles can now ply the road and we are improving the surface condition,” he said. Currently, the road is in bad condition, especially between Kunzum pass and Gramphoo. Ministry of Defence is considering widening of the highway for many years. Local residents have also been demanding to improve the condition of the road as even large vehicles fail to negotiate some stretches with huge boulders laid on the surface. Spiti is emerging as top tourist destinations of Himachal for its ancient monasteries, culture,
The Manali-Spiti road, which was closed since October after heavy winter snowfall, has been reopened for vehicular traffic as Border Roads Organization (BRO) has cleared snow from Gramphoo-Kaza stretch including 14,000ft high Kunzum pass. This road connects with the Manali-Leh highway at Gramphoo, 16km north of Rohtang pass, and is a vital link to connect
Tourism in Spiti has suffered major drop in number of tourists who are fearing their safety in tribal mountains following landslides and heavy rains this month. Chandertal, Kibber, Kaza, Losar, Nako, Tabo, Kunzum pass, Dhankar monastery, Kungri Gompa and Thang Yug gompa are the main tourist destination in Spiti, the cold desert of Himachal. Due to snowfall and frequent landslides on connecting roads to Spiti, tourists, mostly domestic, are not daring to visit this hill resort. Kaza, the headquarters of Spiti which is well known as the first choice of foreigners, is recording a major drop in tourists this year. “My jeep and clients trapped between snows at Chandertal for six days,” said Pritam Thakur, a driver, adding, “I had to bring my clients, all trekkers, to Manali from Chandertal on August 14 but snowfall blocked all the highways. We camped in Chandertal for two days and reached Rohtnang on August 16. Another landslide had blocked the highway here. Having no other option, my clients had to walk on foot but my jeep could reach Manali on August 20. Many tourists fear only with the name of Spiti.” Being blocked for a while after landslides, Spiti-Kinnaur highway remains operational for most of the time but tourists prefer a round trip of Manali-Spiti-Kinnaur which covers all the attractions of cold deserts. In such if landslide or snowfall blocks highway at any place, tourists have no other option than to wait for its reopening. Otherwise, they will have to travel back on the same route for many days in vain. A shopkeeper in Kaza, Satpal Mahajan, said landslides and rains are posing threat to the tourism, ruining season in the second consecutive year. Recalling last year’s season, Mahajan said, “Incessant rains had ruined last year’s tourism season in Spiti and again this
Tourism in Spiti has suffered major drop in number of tourists who are fearing their safety in tribal mountains following landslides and heavy rains this month. Chandertal, Kibber, Kaza, Losar, Nako, Tabo, Kunzum pass, Dhankar monastery, Kungri Gompa and Thang Yug gompa are the main tourist destination in Spiti, the cold desert of Himachal. Due
