Manali-Leh highway reopens

MANALI - The strategic National Highway-22, which connects Manali town in Himachal Pradesh to Leh in Jammu and Kashmir, has been reopened for light vehicles after it was shut due to landslides Aug 6, an official said here Sunday.

“The traffic between Manali and Leh was partially restored Saturday,” an official of the General Reserve Engineering Force, a wing of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), told IANS.

He said some stretch of the highway between Upshi and Rumptse in Ladakh region is still under landslides.

“Currently, only small vehicles are allowed to ply. It will take some more days for the heavy vehicles to operate on the highway,” he added.

The 222 km stretch of the highway between Manali and Sarchu was already made motorable last week for all type of vehicles.

BRO officials said the entire 20 km of road has been badly damaged on the Upshi-Rumptse stretch.

Dev Raj Sharma, the senior manager of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) posted here, said the bus service on the Manali-Leh segment would be resumed only after the highway is made motorable for heavy vehicles.

The HPTDC operates a luxury bus service on this route.

A cloudburst occurred at Choglamsar village Aug 6, which is situated above Leh town, causing flash floods and mudslides that washed away government offices, paramilitary camps and residential homes.