Lahaul and Spiti, Leh favoured tourist spots

Dipender Manta
Tribune News Service
Mandi, July 5

The rush of tourists at the Rohtang Pass is less this summer, as a majority of them are moving towards Lahaul and Spiti, Leh and Ladakh via the Atal Tunnel.

Data procured by The Tribune from the Police Department reveals that on June 27, as many as 3,848 vehicles crossed the Atal Tunnel for Lahaul and Spiti from Manali, while 3,428 vehicles returned to Manali from Lahaul and Spiti. The highest number of 1,069 vehicles from Manali to the Rohtang Pass was recorded on June 26. This is far less compared to the number in the previous years.

The reason being cited is that the 9.2-km Atal Tunnel on the Manali-Leh highway, a masterpiece of engineering, is providing tourists an easy access to Lahaul and Spiti and Leh from Manali. As a result, a majority of tourists are preferring to visit the scenic places in Lahaul and Spiti and Leh and Ladakh.

Before the opening of the Atal Tunnel, the Rohtang Pass was the favourite tourist destination in Kullu district, witnessing a huge rush of tourist vehicles during the summer.

To protect the ecology of the Rohtang Pass, the National Green Tribunal had imposed restrictions and limited the number of vehicles for the pass from Manali to 1,200. Though the tourist influx to Rohtang is less, the pass is covered under a thick blanket of snow these days, and tourists can be seen enjoying snow and the nature at its best.