TBM Staff - Hyderabad According to Times of India, A number of tourists flooded Himachal’s Kullu-Manali recently after the place received fresh snowfall. There was a sudden tourist influx in Manali which made hoteliers happy. However, given the fresh spell of snowfall at Atal Tunnel on the Manali-Leh highway, the administration of Lahaul and Spiti stopped tourist vehicles from moving beyond Atal Tunnel in Lahaul.
The hoteliers say that after receiving fresh snowfall yesterday, the number of tourists in the region has gone up. The number is expected to go up in Kullu-Manali in the coming days. The fresh snow has proved to be a boon to the tourism industry in Himachal as the room occupancy in hotels has seen a hike up to 70 percent.
Himachal’s Solang Valley, Atal Tunnel and Gulaba are prime tourist attractions and now that these places are covered in ample snow, the number of tourists footfall is set to increase.
Besides snowfall, the Atal Tunnel will remain closed for vehicles twice a week from 7 AM to 9.30 AM for regular maintenance works and no vehicle will be allowed in the tunnel on Mondays and Thursdays starting December 20.
The Rohtang Tunnel or the Atal Tunnel, named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is built at a height of 3000 m above sea level between Himachal Pradesh’s Manali and Leh in Ladakh. This 9.02 km-long tunnel is also the world’s longest highway single-tube tunnel.
(Source: TOI)
