Hundreds stranded, roads shut as heavy snowfall cuts off Hills

Sudden and heavy snowfall across the Himalayan region over the last 48 hours has triggered widespread disruptions, with hundreds of vehicles and people stranded, roads blocked and power disruptions in several high-altitude areas of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Kashmir.

- HT Correspondents

(Left) Vehicles stuck in a traffic jam amid snowfall in Manali; and people wade through snow near Banihal in J&K's Ramban district on Saturday.

(ANI/PTI)

In Himachal Pradesh, the heavy snowfall has ended a prolonged dry spell in the state but triggered a crisis in the Kullu-Manali region. As of Saturday, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) reported 683 roads, including two National Highways (NH-03 and NH-505), blocked. In Kullu alone, 79 roads are shut and 587 transformers are down.

The rush to see snow created a 15-km traffic jam near Manali, forcing many to abandon their vehicles. Videos on social media showed cars stuck or sliding on icy roads. “We remained stuck in the traffic jam for more than three hours and then decided to walk our way to Manali...” said Akshay, a tourist from Delhi, who walked around 7 km to reach Manali.

Trisha, a tourist from Delhi, said:“We had to spend the night in our vehicle and we survived on maggi as we were carrying our own portable cylinder...”