For the fourth consecutive day, the Chandigarh-Manali national highway has remained impassable, leading to the isolation of Kullu, Manali, Lahaul, and Spiti from the rest of the state. Amidst this situation, two alternate routes between Mandi and Kullu were briefly opened for the movement of light vehicles via Kainchi Mod near the Pandoh dam after four days of closure. Consequently, more than 1,500 vehicles stranded on the Kullu side were able to proceed towards Mandi using these routes. This included passenger vehicles, trucks, and vehicles loaded with agricultural produce like vegetables and apples, all heading towards Mandi.
Regrettably, both of these alternate roads were shut again by evening. A significant number of vehicles still remain stranded on the Mandi side. In the midst of these challenges, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) Sunder Singh Thakur, in conjunction with officials such as Deputy Commissioner Ashutosh Garg from Kullu, Deputy Commissioner Arindam Chaudhary from Mandi, and representatives from NHAI and PWD, visited the site of the damaged road at Kainchi Mod.
Thakur took the initiative to instruct NHAI officials to expedite the process of restoring the road link between Mandi and Kullu. It was due to his intervention that the two alternative routes via Kainchi Mod were temporarily reopened for traffic. These routes had experienced severe damage due to heavy rainfall, and both PWD and NHAI have been grappling to rehabilitate all three alternate routes between Mandi and Kullu.
Thakur expressed that concerted efforts are being made to enhance road connectivity at the earliest between Mandi and Kullu. The aim is to facilitate farmers in transporting their agricultural yields to markets, thereby minimizing disruptions caused by the ongoing road closure.
