80 tourists stranded at Batal in Lahaul-Spiti; Army help sought

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, October 21

As many as 80 tourists have been stranded at Batal in tribal district Lahaul and Spiti of Himachal Pradesh for the last five days.

The tourists were on a visit to the Chandratal lake area on October 17. As it snowed, Gramphu-Kaza highway got blocked and the tourists could not move out of the area.

The matter came to notice on Wednesday night, when some relatives of these stranded tourists informed the district administration that they were unable to contact their kin who were on an excursion to Lahaul and Spiti.

Today, the district administration conducted a recce with the help of army chopper to locate the “missing” tourists near Chandratal and Batal area but could not trace them. Rescue teams were also sent from Spiti and Lahaul to find them. Finally, the rescue team from the Spiti side today noticed the stranded tourists at Batal, camping at a safe place.

Lahaul-Spiti Deputy Commissioner Neeraj Kumar said that “these stranded tourists are safe and camping at local Dhaba and PWD rest house at Batal. Arrangements have been made for their evacuation by tomorrow with the help of an army unit, BRO and District Disaster Management Authority”.

The DC added that, “It is expected that tomorrow Gramphu-Kaza highway will be restored by the Border Roads Organisation for the movement of 4x4 vehicles. All these tourists will be evacuated safely out of the area in 4x4 vehicles.”

He said, “16 tourists are from West Bengal, while remaining from Delhi, Punjab, Himachal and few other states. Due to lack of communication services in the area, the district administration could not get any information about these stranded tourists in time.”