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Manali-Leh highway opens for traffic after three days
The strategic highway was closed since September 24 after snowfall at the 4,850-metre high Baralacha La pass
The Manali-Leh national highway reopened for traffic, three days after it was closed due to snowfall at Baralacha La pass.
The Lahaul-Spiti police, in an update on its social media handle, said that the Manali-Leh Highway (NH-003) has been opened for all kinds of vehicles.
The strategic highway was closed since September 24 after snowfall at the 4,850-metre high pass.
Koksar-Losar-Kaza National Highway (NH-505) has also been opened. “BRO has also opened the Darcha-Shinkula road, but traffic will be allowed between 9 am to 3 pm only due to the risk of black ice on the road,” the police statement said.
State Highway 26, which connects the remote Pangi valley of Chamba with Lahaul-Spiti has been restored for one-way traffic.
Meanwhile, a total of 159 roads were blocked for traffic after the heavy rains last week.
Ninty-two roads are closed in Shimla districts, including 45 in Jubbal and 22 in Chopal sub-divisions. Twenty roads each were blocked in Sirmaur and Chamba districts. Besides, 33 water supply schemes have been affected, while 141 power distribution transformers were shut down due to technical snags.
Three feared dead separate mishaps
Meanwhile, three people have been feared dead in separate incidents in Kullu, Kangra, and Sirmaur districts.
One person was feared dead after a landslide at Plashla in Nohradhar tehsil of district Sirmaur. State Disaster Management Authority director Sudesh Kumar Mokhta said as per the report from district emergency operations cells, one JCB was buried under the debris, and its driver was missing. The local authorities have launched a search operation to trace the missing person identified as Kuldeep Kumar.
In the Kullu district, one person was swept away after the car he was driving fell into the Satluj River at Bazirbavdi in the early morning. The missing person has been identified as Raj Kumar of the Nirmand area. His body hasn’t been traced yet, and a search operation was on.
In Kangra district, one person was feared drowned in Ghaj Khadd at Bangotu in Shahpur subdivisions. Police and SDRF are searching for the missing person.
