The district administration of Lahaul-Spiti has decided to close the Rohtang pass on the Manali-Leh highway from 15 of November till the next summer. Speaking to a news agency, Deputy Commissioner BS Thakur said that they would officially close the Rohtang pass from 15 of November onwards.
He said that the Border Road Organisation, responsible for maintaining the Manali-Leh highway has informed the state officials that it will not be in a position to maintain vehicular traffic from 15 of November due to heavy snowfall.
Due to the approach of a fresh Western Disturbance from 15 of November, another spell of snowfall could lead to blockades on the highway. Thakur further added that the district administration would withdraw its men and machinery deployed at various locations along the highway with the onset of snowfall.
The district administration had temporally closed the highway owing to heavy snowfall in the past few days that led to hundreds of people and more than a dozen vehicles stranded in Keylong, a town 115 km from the tourist destination of Manali, in Himachal Pradesh.
Snowfall in Himachal Pradesh and other parts of the Western Himalayan region is expected to reduce during the next two to three days as the Western Disturbance is now moving away.
