Snow and rain have disturbed the normal lives in the Manali and Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. In the Kullu district, there is a crisis in the basic services as the number of power transformers and drinking water schemes has been hit to 582 and 81 respectively. National Highway-3 has been rendered unusable as there are thick layers of snow and consequently, the long queues of vehicles have formed and tourists can only cover a distance of 300 meters in almost a period of five hours. Due to some of the roads being blocked, a number of tourists are being subjected to walk 10 to 15 kilometers as a way of accessing their destinations.
The government has reopened the road between Patlikuhal and Rangri as a one-lane road with four wheel drives only. Hotels in Manali are 80 to 90 percent occupied, even though there is a heavy snowfall and a good number of hotels are overbooked to January 31.
The falling temperatures between zero and minus ten degrees Celsius, however, and the deficiency of the basic facilities has posed severe problems to the tourists.
A “Tough” Journey to Manali
To the tourists, the trip to Manali has been made exceedingly hard. Traffic according to one tourist by the name Vicky was so bad that they traveled 300 meters in five hours. According to the tourists Ravi and Rahul, they had to spend all the night in a bus and then to walk almost 15 kilometers to Manali. Tourists are also telling others to avoid going to Manali at the moment because the situation may deteriorate further in case snowfall is further experienced.
Management is Experiencing significant Problems.
The Kullu Valley has an acute lack of electricity and water. The number of transformers shut is 582 and as such, there are still several places that are in the dark. According to Vicky, the greatest issue in such extreme cold is the electric power shortage. He said that the administration should have introduced improved facilities as compensation to the fees charged on tourists. The administration has been challenged the most by clearing the roads completely because heavy snow has severed connection.
Adventure and Tourism Receive a Boost.
Notwithstanding the challenges, a number of tourists are having fun in the snow even when the temperature is -10degC. Tourists Anjali and Rani claimed that they have never seen so much snowfall and to them it was a life long experience.
Snowfall has really helped business according to hotel owner Sunil Sen. Hotels are nearly overflowing, and reservation is filled till January 31. The immobility of the vehicles to higher points is however a significant setback.Kullu Manali traffic jam
