Sukhu govt came-out of slumbers, wish safe return of stranded tourists

Shimla, June 26 –  The Congress government of Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu in Himachal Pradesh seems to have come out of slumber as it wished the safe return of thousands of tourists and 5,000 stranded tourists vehicles.
In a press statement issued for the media, R.S. Bali, Chairman, Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC), said that in light of the monsoon and intermittent rains in Himachal Pradesh, the State tourism department has issued an advisory for tourists to venture out safely while travelling within the State.
The chairman said that now the department would issue an advisory to the tourists visiting the State to always keep their GPS location on their mobiles, commute on the guided routes only, figure out the weather updates, and drive slowly during their journey, especially during the heavy mist, which makes the visibility poor.
He said that the tourists should avoid rash driving and instead enjoy their journey while maintaining the sanctity of the hilly regions.
He said that some unverified information was going viral through various social media platforms regarding traffic jams between Mandi and Pandoh on the Manali-Kiratpur four-lane highway due to landslides.
However, due to construction and widening of roads, such natural phenomena were common, particularly during the rainy season in hilly belts.
He said that as per the latest reports, the work of clearing debris was on a war footing, and traffic was also being diverted through the Chailchowk-Gohar route to reach Kullu, though the movement of traffic was a bit slow.
Apart from this, the Kamaand (Kandi-Katola) road was also open and has been made one-way for the vehicles coming from Kullu.
The tourists are not stranded for a long period, as was being made viral. The Chairman also appealed to those spreading false information to avoid a panic of sorts.
He said that as per the reports received from Mandi, the Light vehicles were being allowed movement, an adequate number of men and machinery were working on war footing to clear the road, and soon the road would be open for heavy and other vehicles.
He said that the situation in the state is normal as all the schools and other educational institutions, offices, markets, etc. are open as usual, and there is no need to panic.
It is worthwhile to mention that Met Office issued Orange alert since last four days but district administration Mandi and Kullu permitted the Traffic on the weekend to move to Rohtang tunnel and Snow points upto Keylong but during first spell of Monsoon rainfall in the state no special Tourist warning was sounding.
Rolling down of boulders, landslides, muckdlides, and flash floods disrupted NH-3 at a number of places between Mandi and Kullu. Most of the link and bypass roads are worst hit by the heavy to very heavy rainfall.