Rains triggering landslides in various parts of Himachal Pradesh, threw normal life out of gear.
A famous tourist destination Sangla valley in Kinnaur district was cut off. Traffic on Karcham-Sangla link road came to a standstill owing to landslide on Sunday morning after large boulders came hurtling down the slopes to block the road for any traffic to move past.
The district administration said it was making efforts to clear the blockade but remained non-commital on the prospects of restoration of the route before Monday.
Congress sitting Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Jagat Singh Negi on a visit to Sangla said that he was monitoring the situation with the district administration and the Public Works Department for the early reopening of the road.
On Saturday, he said he had supervised repair work of Bailey Bridge at Choling on NH-5 near Urni Dhank that was damaged on 10 August. The bridge was made operational for light vehicles on Sunday afternoon, he added.
Furthermore, the highway connecting Kinnaur to Lahaul and Spiti district was blocked at Maling following stones falling from the mountain, leaving vehicles of tourist and the locals stranded on both the sides of the blocked road.
The landslide also disrupted transportation of peas to the market from Changsha, Shalakhar and Spiti.
The local people, meanwhile, blamed the Border Roads Organisation for slow pace in restoration of the road.
Negi said that the issue of early restoration of traffic on the road had been taken up with the Border Road Organisation and he would visit Maling on Monday.
The Maling blockade has also hampered the preparations for three-day-long ‘Pori Mela’ that commences on 17 August at Triloknath in Lahaul valley.
Reports also came in of traffic coming to a standstill for three hours on Sunday morning due to a landslide on Chandigarh-Manali national highway at Jadhol in Bilaspur district.