Leh-Manali highway closed, yellow alert in Himachal

The Leh-Manali national highway has been temporarily closed due to fresh snowfall in higher reaches of Himachal’s Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti districts on Friday, officials said. The regions received light to moderate snowfall.

Popular tourist destinations, including Atal Tunnel, Sissu, Koksar and the iconic Rohtang Pass, received snowfall on Friday.

Lahaul and Spiti superintendent of police (SP) confirmed that traffic movement from Darcha to Sarchu and Koksar to Rohtang Top was severely disrupted due to the snowfall. He added that National Highway 505 (Sumdo-Kaza-Gramphu) was also blocked, compounding the transportation woes in the area.

The meteorological department has issued a yellow alert for ten districts across Himachal Pradesh, excluding Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti, for Friday. The alert indicates that moderate snowfall is expected to continue in the higher reaches of Kullu, Chamba, Kangra, and the Lahaul division.

For lower areas, light to moderate precipitation accompanied by thunder, lightning and gusty winds is likely. The areas include Chamba, Kangra, Una, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Shimla, Solan, Sirmour, Mandi and Lahaul division.