A sudden blizzard at Rohtang Pass on Friday disrupted tourist movement and triggered a massive traffic jam on the Manali-Rohtang road, leaving hundreds of visitors stranded for hours amid fresh snowfall. While no loss of life or major accident was reported, the abrupt change in weather caused significant inconvenience to tourists enjoying snow activities in the area. Some visitors reportedly had to walk nearly a kilometre through snow to reach their vehicles after traffic came to a standstill.
As snowfall intensified during the morning, the administration stopped tourist vehicles at Marhi after 8 am as a precautionary measure. However, vehicles that had crossed the checkpoint earlier managed to reach Rohtang Pass. The heavy rush of vehicles resulted in a nearly 10-km-long traffic jam from Banta Bend to Chumbak Mod on the uphill stretch. While many tourists welcomed the fresh snowfall at Rohtang and Marhi, others remained stuck in traffic for several hours.
The situation once again highlighted the shortage of traffic personnel on the Manali-Rohtang highway. Taxi Union president Raj Kamal urged the government to create adequate parking facilities at Rohtang Pass, deploy additional police personnel and take strict action against traffic rule violators.
Meanwhile, tourists heading towards Shinkula and Baralacha passes in Lahaul were stopped at Darcha and nearby areas due to snowfall in the higher reaches.
Manali SDM Gunjeet Singh Cheema said tourist vehicles were halted at Marhi after snowfall intensified. He added that parking infrastructure was being developed at Rohtang Pass and traffic management would improve once the facility was completed. He also said tourists would be allowed to travel towards Koksar via Rohtang after the Border Roads Organisation fully restores the route.
