KULLU: Thousands of tourists, stranded at Atal Tunnel and nearby areas of Lahaul-Spiti district due to heavy snowfall that began Sunday evening and continued through Monday, were rescued in a joint operation launched by police and Border Roads Organisation (BRO).Tourists, who travelled from Manali to Sissu and Atal Tunnel to enjoy snowfall on Saturday and Sunday morning, were caught off guard by heavy snowfall that resulted in slippery road conditions and made driving back risky.According to police, more than 1,000 vehicles were stuck at Atal Tunnel alone on Sunday evening. As the highway to Manali got blocked, a huge traffic jam was witnessed inside and outside the tunnel.
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While hundreds of tourists stayed back in Sissu on Sunday, many were forced to spend the night in their vehicles stuck in the traffic jam at the Atal Tunnel. Many tourists remained stranded inside the tunnel for almost 20 hours.A joint rescue operation was launched by a team of Kullu police and BRO on Sunday evening. The operation, which continued on Monday, was hampered by continuous heavy snowfall.The majority of vehicles were guided back to Manali by late Sunday night, and the rest on Monday. “We managed to safely guide around 700 of the over 1,000 stranded vehicles from Atal Tunnel to Manali Sunday night. The remaining 300 vehicles were brought back to Manali by Monday afternoon. We had a team of 40 personnel, but heavy snowfall kept hampering the operation,” Manali DSP K D Sharma, who took part in the operation, told TOI.More than two feet of snow accumulated around Atal Tunnel, but police and the BRO continued. According to Kullu SDM Ashwani Kumar, 100 vehicles were still stranded in Dhundi near Atal Tunnel. The operation to rescue them was still on when this report was filed.On Monday, Kullu police closed the Manali-Atal Tunnel highway at Nehru Kund near Manali due to continuous snowfall. Lahaul-Spiti police, on the other hand, issued an advisory asking tourists and locals to avoid unnecessary travel until conditions returned to normal.Snowfall in higher reaches and moderate to heavy rainfall in mid and low hills for the second consecutive day on Monday brought the chill back.On Monday, it snowed in higher areas of Kullu district in Solang valley, Palchan, Kothi, Marhi, Gulaba, Jalori Jot, Bijli Mahadev top, and Pangi valley, and Dalhousie in Chamba, and most areas of Lahaul-Spiti district, including Sissu, Gondhla, Keylong, Udaipur, Tandi, Koksar and Jispa. It also snowed in the upper reaches of Kangra district. Light snowfall also started in Manali on Monday evening.High mountain passes, including Rohtang Pass, Shinku La, Baralacha La and Kunzum Pass, have received more than two feet of snow since Sunday.In the low and mid hills, moderate to heavy rainfall was recorded on Monday. It rained in Kullu, Mandi, Chamba, Kangra, Una, Hamirpur, Shimla, Bilaspur, Sirmaur, Kinnaur, and Solan districts.According to the Meteorological Centre, Shimla, the state recorded an average 11.5mm rain in the 24 hours preceding 8.30am on Monday, which was 249% more than the normal of 3.3 mm.The continuous snow and rain pushed down both maximum and minimum temperatures.Tabo was coldest, with a minimum temperature of -2.5°C. Nahan recorded a minimum temperature of 10.1°C, Shimla 4.4°C, Kalpa -2.4°C, Dharamshala 8.7°C, Manali 2.9°C, Palampur 7°C, and Mandi 9.6°C.Maximum temperatures also nosedived, with Una recording the highest temperature of 18.6°C. Mandi recorded a maximum of 16.1°C. It was followed by Bhuntar 12.2°C, Dharamshala 14°C, Manali 5.8°C, Shimla 15.5°C, and Bilaspur 18.1°C. Meanwhile, the weather department has issued a yellow alert for light rain, snow, and thunderstorms in parts of the state on March 17 and 18, and an orange alert for heavy rain and snow on March 19.
