A major landslide occurred near Manali in the morning hours today which has completely blocked the Chandigarh – Manali Highway. The landslide took place near Hanogi temple in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh on National Highway number 21, 25 Kms from Mandi. Luckily no loss of life has been reported as no vehicle was crossing the landslide affected road stretch at the time of the event.
Landslide started with some small rocks falling from the mountain on the road. Vehicular traffic stopped as the number of rocks started to increase. It was at 9:30 am on 7th December, 2015 that the whole mountain came down in the form of a major landslide. The main road, Chandigarh – Manali highway was completely bocked due to landslide. Himachal Government pressed its PWD department into service and the debris of the landslide are being removed.
According to the reports the debris were in a large quantity and even fell into the Beas river on the other side of the road. Landslides in Manali are a common sight but generally they are small and do not hamper the traffic flow on the Chandigarh Manali highway. However this landslide which occurred here is said to be major one and no vehicular traffic will be allowed on this stretch of the road for a minimum of 24 hours, provided there’s no other landslide.
The traffic on the Chandigarh – Manali highway has been diverted from Bajaura area of Kullu district via Kamand-Kantindi-Mandi road. Police personal have been deployed to divert the traffic and advisory precautions have been given to tourists to avoid travelling during night hours.