Shimla, Nov 23 : District administration in Lahaul Spiti claimed to have evacuated about 400 people who arrived at tourist resort Manali on Thursday evening in more than 188 vehicles crossing 13,050 ft high Rohtang Pass.
Talking to UNI, Deputy Commissioner Lahaul Spiti Dev Singh Negi informed that around 188 vehicles carrying about 400 people, most of them stranded, today left Koksar toward Rohtang Pass this morning. They halted in the steep road on the slippery ice points for hours.
Jawans of 38 BRTF wing of BRO was deployed to felicitate stranded vehicles after putting soil and sand on extremely slippery places.
All the vehicles crossed Rohtang pass in this afternoon and started downward journey as they arrived at Manali around 1700 hrs in long queues and the road was busy as a number of locals from Lahaul also crossed the snow pass in the day today safely landed at Manali in the rescue operation.
Including drivers and ITBP jawans, as many as 46 people were stranded in the snow at Koksar and rest at Keylong and Udiapur for last one week waiting for the BRO to clear mounted snow which happened last evening.
He said that all the stranded people who were staying at Koksar and others lodging at Keylong and Udiapur for last six days were assisted by the administration had made elaborate arrangement for their food, shelters and provided blankets to brave bone chilling cold wave.
The rescued include a newly married couple as their ‘barat’ was also stuck in the snowfall in Mayar valley also arrived at Manali after a gap of six days.
He said that no loss of life has been reported due to cold wave in the district and sufficient quota of food grains, LPG and fuel were stored to face the snowfall and cold wave. District administration asked the BRO to keep open the road till December 1 as the snowfall is advanced in the region after fresh spell of snowfall on 16 and 17.
BRO officially closed down snow clearing operation between Keylong -Leh road after October 15 and between Manali and Keylong on November 15 declaring the highway off for the vehicular traffic. Mr Negi added that to continue plying vehicles on the slippery and snow-bound road is life risking and BRO withdraws its machinery with heavy snowfall on the high passes.
The tribal people remained snow-bound for more than six months after onset of snowfall in the winter after closing down of Rohtang Pass. He said that administration would allow small vehicles to ply between Manali to Lahual tomorrow. However, it would be subjected to weather conditions.
