What began as a picturesque winter escape has turned into a chilling nightmare for hundreds of tourists in Himachal Pradesh, as heavy rainfall and intense snowfall crippled normal life across the state. From Shimla to Manali and lesser known hill getaways like Chail, the sudden surge of tourists collided with extreme weather, creating chaos on mountain roads and leaving families stranded for hours in sub zero temperatures.The crisis has been made worse by a long weekend coinciding with the season’s first snowfall after nearly three months of dry weather, triggering an unexpected surge of tourists into the hill state.
The scale of disruption has brought traffic movement to a near halt in several tourist-heavy belts. The massive traffic jam, which began on Friday evening, has continued unabated for over 24 hours, leaving thousands of tourists stranded inside their vehicles amid freezing temperatures.Traffic movement beyond Dhalli, around 10 km from Shimla, was completely suspended after a long stretch of the Hindustan-Tibet Road was covered in snow, making travel extremely dangerous. According to official data as quoted by NDTV, as many as 685 roads remain blocked across Himachal Pradesh. The worst-hit is the tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti, where 292 roads are shut. This is followed by Chamba with 132 blocked roads, Mandi with 126, Kullu with 79, Sirmour with 29, Kinnaur with 20, Kangra with four, Una with two, and Solan with one road closed, a report said.In Manali and surrounding regions, hotels are operating at nearly 100 percent occupancy, driven by the rush of tourists eager to witness fresh snowfall. But while rooms are full, roads are frozen. Long traffic snarls stretch endlessly along mountain highways, with reports of jams running up to eight kilometres in some stretches. Vehicles are barely moving as snow covered roads turn slippery, forcing authorities to shut down hundreds of routes across the state.
Several areas have been effectively cut off. The entire Kinnaur district remains isolated, while multiple towns in Shimla district, including Narkanda, Jubbal, Kotkhai, Kumarsain, Kharapathar, Rohru and Chopal, have lost road connectivity due to relentless snowfall, officials said.
No Food, Sub-zero Temperature
One of the worst affected pockets is Chail, a popular tourist destination near Shimla. Heavy snowfall has transformed the Chail highway into a dangerous slip zone, triggering a massive traffic jam that has lasted for several hours. Tourists, including families with children, remain stuck inside vehicles deep inside forest stretches, with no access to food, water or basic facilities.Many travellers were caught completely unprepared. With restaurants shut and no roadside help available, some tourists resorted to using small portable gas stoves they had carried along, cooking instant noodles and boiling eggs on the roadside just to survive the long wait. Others were not as lucky. Several stranded travellers did not even have blankets to shield themselves from the biting cold, despite temperatures plunging below zero.
As night fell, the situation grew more alarming. With fuel running low and heaters switched off to conserve petrol, stranded tourists lit makeshift bonfires along the forested highway to keep warm.
Himachal on Alert
Himachal Pradesh has been put on high alert as an active western disturbance sweeps across the state, triggering heavy snowfall and rain and crippling normal life in several districts.The state government on Saturday issued a statewide advisory, warning of intense weather conditions between January 26 and 28, as snowfall intensified across higher reaches and rain lashed mid-hill areas.The Meteorological Department attributed the extreme conditions to a western disturbance, a storm system originating from the Mediterranean-Caspian Sea region that moves across Afghanistan and Pakistan before impacting northwest India. According to the MeT office, the system is expected to remain active till Sunday, bringing further spells of rain and snow.Adding to concerns, a yellow warning has been issued for dense fog and cold wave conditions in Kangra, Mandi, Solan, Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur and Sirmour for Sunday.
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