A 40-kilometre drive took 17.5 hours instead of 1.5. The next 230 kilometres took just four hours.
Heavy snowfall in Himachal Pradesh last week brought travel to a standstill for hundreds of tourists. A Calcutta family, returning from a vacation in Manali, heaved a sigh of relief once they reached the plains. Their drive through snow-covered roads from Manali to Kullu began Saturday morning and ended only early on Sunday. The onward journey from Kullu to Chandigarh, by contrast, was comparatively smooth.
Joy Chakraborty, an official of a central government research institute, his wife, son and friends had gone to Manali for a vacation. They boarded a car for Kullu at 11am on Saturday, only to get stuck in a massive traffic snarl for the entire 40-kilometre stretch. They finally reached Kullu at 4.30am on Sunday and then continued to Chandigarh, arriving at 8.30am.
Large parts of north India, including Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir, experienced heavy snowfall last week. Power outages were reported in several areas, and airports were forced to shut down.
“The car was moving a few feet and then standing still for at least 30 minutes. This happened throughout the journey from Manali to Kullu. We could not get out of the car because it was freezing outside,” Chakraborty said on Sunday evening.
Along the way, they saw many tourists heading for Manali abandoning their vehicles several kilometres from the town and walking. “Their cars were stranded and so they had to get off and walk. Many of them were carrying their children and seemed to be in severe distress,” he said. “Some were enjoying the walk too,” he added.
Chakraborty explained that the road from Manali to Kullu is two-lane. “But at many places, one of the lanes was blocked by stranded vehicles, which were being pushed aside. Those stretches became one-lane roads, causing traffic snarls. This added to the problem of vehicles moving slowly on the snow-covered road. Thankfully, there was no fresh snowfall since Saturday morning,” he said.
Stranded vehicles being pushed aside on a snow-covered stretch between Manali and Kullu on Saturday. Pictures courtesy: Joy Chakraborty
Their driver said that traffic management would have been easier if police were present. “We did not find any policeman after we left Mall Road in Manali,” Chakraborty said.
The family had stocked up on snacks from stores that remained open until evening. “After 5pm, almost everything was closed. A few times, we tried to get out of the car, but it was freezing cold,” he said.
The driver for their onward journey to Chandigarh had been waiting in Kullu and had been calling them since Saturday night. “From Kullu to Chandigarh, the drive was smooth,” Chakraborty said.
Metro had reported on Sunday how Chakraborty and his family and friends spent Friday night at a hotel without power. The room heater and geyser were not functioning, and on Saturday morning, they had to walk through knee-deep snow for 30 minutes, carrying theirluggage to the car because roads were blocked by stranded vehicles.
The family had to pay ₹10,000 for a car capable of moving through the snow, compared with the usual fare of ₹3,500-4,000.