Manali turned into a postcard-perfect winter destination after the season’s first heavy snowfall, but the spectacle came at a steep cost, with massive traffic snarls leaving thousands of tourists and locals stranded for hours in freezing conditions.
The chaos unfolded from Friday evening as a surge of tourists ahead of a long weekend coincided with intense snowfall across the region. Roads leading into Manali were among the worst affected, with vehicles stuck bumper-to-bumper on snow-laden hill roads.
Viral videos on social media showed kilometres-long traffic congestion, cars buried under thick layers of snow and commuters reporting that they were trapped inside their vehicles overnight as movement ground to a halt.
According to reports, traffic between Kothi and Manali stretched nearly eight kilometres at one point. Continuous snowfall severely hampered road clearance efforts, leaving authorities struggling to restore normal movement.
In several areas, snowfall exceeded two feet, turning roads into icy traps and making vehicular movement nearly impossible, especially on steep gradients.
Officials said the worst congestion was reported at multiple choke points, including the police station area, Volvo stand, Rangri, Tibetan School, Aloo Ground and 17 Mile.
Vehicles skidded uncontrollably on snow-covered roads, leading to minor collisions and damage. Tourist vehicles piled up across narrow stretches, compounding the disruption.
Ironically, despite peak winter conditions, hotels in Manali reported relatively low occupancy of around 55–60 per cent, as many visitors remained stranded on approach roads and could not reach the town.
The district administration remained on high alert through the night. Relief teams were deployed to assist stranded tourists, distributing food and drinking water at vulnerable locations.
By Saturday morning, snow clearance operations were intensified. Authorities began clearing the national highway, the left-bank road and most internal roads within Manali town, which were largely restored.
Officials expressed hope that traffic would normalise soon, allowing stranded travellers to move ahead safely.
Amid the disruption, a tragic incident was reported when an ambulance carrying a heart patient was stuck in a traffic jam near Rangri for nearly four hours.
The patient, identified as Sushil Kumar of Dehan village in Una district, was being referred from Manali to Mandi but succumbed en route due to the prolonged delay.
Snowfall also disrupted power and water supply in several areas. As a precautionary measure, authorities ordered the closure of all educational institutions on January 24 in the Banjar and Manali sub-divisions.
In a separate incident, 12 tourists stranded amid heavy snowfall in the Raghupurgarh-Sojha area of Banjar subdivision were safely rescued following swift intervention by local residents.
Braving harsh weather, six locals reached the site, guided the group to safety and escorted them towards Sojha and Jibhi, where conditions were relatively safer.
Meanwhile, the Himachal Pradesh government issued a statewide advisory as an active western disturbance continues to impact the region.
The Meteorological Office said the system would remain active till Sunday, bringing additional spells of rain and snowfall between January 26 and 28.
A yellow warning has also been issued for dense fog and cold wave conditions in Kangra, Mandi, Solan, Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur and Sirmour districts.
Authorities have urged travellers to avoid unnecessary journeys and strictly adhere to official advisories amid the extreme weather.