Heavy Rains Paralyze HRTC Bus Services Across Himachal, 862 Routes Affected

Shimla, Sept 2 – Continuous heavy rainfall over the past week has brought Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) services to a standstill, with bus operations severely disrupted across the state. On Tuesday alone, services on nearly 862 routes remained suspended, while 241 routes saw buses stranded mid-journey due to road blockages.

The worst-hit districts were Chamba with 152 disrupted routes and Kullu with 93. Other affected regions include Rohru (90), Rampur (78), Karsog (44), Taradevi (46), Bilaspur (45), Keylong (44), Dharamshala (26), and Shimla local (40). Officials confirmed that operations will resume only after road connectivity is restored.

HRTC Vice-Chairman Ajay Verma stated that the corporation is incurring losses of over ₹1 crore daily, with revenue slashed by nearly half due to the suspension of services.