Thousands of visitors crossed the Atal tunnel to see the snow and snowfall on Thursday. As snow begins to accumulate on the road, vehicles begin to skid and driving becomes very difficult late in the evening. While some people, mostly local taxi drivers, tried to make their way through the steep bend between the tunnel and Dhundi nullah, hundreds of other vehicles got stuck as more vehicles skidded onto the road and caused congestion.
Although the authorities stopped traffic towards the Atal tunnel, it was too late. Lahaul-Spiti police started sending cars from Lahaul to Manali. However, they were unable to move forward due to traffic congestion at the tunnel’s south gate, where police were trying to send vehicles one by one to prevent them from colliding with each other.
#HimachalPradesh : About 100 vehicles stuck near the North Gate of #AtalTunnel due to congestion and snow… https://t.co/QoN5yDvB7L
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At 8:45pm, Lahaul-Spiti SP Manav Verma Information: “Nearly 100 vehicles stuck at the northern tunnel gate due to snowfall and traffic jams at the south gate have been moved to the south gate. SHO Keylong is monitoring safe traffic movement. Tourists are also being taught how to drive in the snow.”
Manali SDM Surrender to Thakur said that nearly 250 vehicles were stuck between the tunnel and Dhundi nullah at 9pm.
“Nearly 40 four-wheelers from Manali have been sent to the tunnel for help. Manali DSP and tehsildar are monitoring the situation on the spot. All vehicles will be evacuated for a while,” he said.
Continuous snowfall in the area as of this reporting. All vehicles are expected to be evacuated by midnight.
The Atal Tunnel has become Manali’s main tourist attraction, visited by thousands of people. Located at an altitude of 10,000 ft, it has also become a popular snow spot where the possibility of seeing snow and snowfall remains very high.
While the Atal tunnel is predicted to be the safest and most modern traffic tunnel in the country, the road leading to the tunnel from the Manali side becomes the most dangerous even with 1 inch of snow. The nearly 3km stretch from Dhundi nullah to the tunnel is very steep with sharp turns causing vehicles to start to slide. Vehicles can’t get through even a thin layer of snow
and ice water. Tourists, who are not used to driving in the snow, will be extremely scared when the vehicles lose control and start to slide in any direction due to gravity.
