Himachal flash floods: Hundreds of commuters stranded as Chandigarh-Manali national highway blocked

Hundreds of commuters were stranded in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district as the Chandigarh-Manali national highway was blocked following flash floods and landslides, officials said on Monday.

The 70-km Mandi-Pandoh-Kullu stretch has been badly affected, they said. A long traffic jam was observed from Nerchowk to Mandi on the Chandigarh-Manali highway as the road was blocked between Mandi and Pandoh in Mandi distric

Hundreds of tourists travelling towards Kullu-Manali from the Mandi side or coming to Mandi from the Kullu side were inconvenienced as they had to spend the night in the vehicles.

However, the police diverted the movement of light vehicles between Mandi and Kullu via the Chailchowk-Pandoh route. But the heavy vehicles are still stuck on the highway. Additional Superintendent of Police Sagar Chander said the restoration work is under way and the road is expected to be thrown open for traffic in the afternoon.

He said the road between Mandi and Kullu via Kataula is also blocked, so travellers are advised to use the Chailchowk-Pandoh route to travel from Mandi to Kullu.

The Mandi-Pandoh stretch was blocked near 6 Miles after a landslide. The officials said restoration work is underway and explosives are being used to blast heavy boulders blocking roads on this stretch. One way traffic has meanwhile been restored on this stretch.