Buses remain off road on 493 routes

Shimla, September 25

HRTC bus services on 493 routes, most of them in Chamba, Solan, Kangra, Kullu, Sirmaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Bilaspur districts, have remained suspended following landslides caused by the three-day heavy spell of rain.

Lahaul-Spiti remained powerless and cut off from the rest of the state for the fourth day as it has received over three feet of snow since September 23 and the Rohtang Pass got more than five feet of snow. A cloudburst occurred at Rwala Kyar in Kotkhai on Tuesday which damaged an apple orchard and a house.

The weather was clear, giving relief to the stranded tourists and locals, who were being rescued from the tribal area of Lahaul, with Keylong recording 90 cm of snowfall for the last two days, revealed Met data.

Though the PWD claimed it had launched the restoration works, its machineries were a mismatch, considering the large scale damage done to roads. According to the HRTC, 493 routes remained unrestored.

Of these, 68 bus routes in Chamba, 58 in Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti, 49 each in Kullu and Bilaspur, 45 in Kangra, 40 in Solan, 29 in Nalagarh, 30 in Mandi, 12 in Rampur, eight in Rohru, 31 local and 13 rural Shimla hit, HRTC divisional manager, traffic, Pankaj Kumar said. — TNS