Shimla, Nov 25 (IANS) The road connectivity to Himachal Pradesh’s snow-bound Lahaul and Spiti district has been restored after it remained cut off from the rest of country for two weeks, an official said Wednesday.
“More than 300 people, who had been stranded across the Lahaul Valley since Nov 9 when the region saw the season’s heavy snowfall, managed to leave for their destination by this (Wednesday) evening after the Udaipur-Killar-Kishtwar road was reopened for the traffic,” Deputy Commissioner (Lahaul and Spiti) Ritesh Chauhan told IANS over telephone.

A large number of government officials, labourers and truckers had been stranded across the district when the road network in the district closed to traffic.

“Some of the stranded people have also been rescued by a chopper hired by the government,” he said.

The Rohtang Pass (13,050 feet), which connects Manali with the Lahaul valley, has been closed to traffic since Nov 9. Chauhan said the General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF), a government agency that maintains the Manali-Leh highway that passes through Rohtang Pass, is on job to clear the snow.

“The snow-clearing work would take four to five days more,” he said.

The cold wave has, meanwhile, tightened its grip across the state.

According to the Shimla-based meteorological office, Keylong, the district headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti, some 475 km from here, recorded a minimum of minus-10 degrees Celsius.

Lahaul and Spiti district, populated mainly by tribals, remains cut off from the rest of the country for more than six months in the year owing to heavy snowfall. The climatic conditions of the landlocked district are harsh as much it falls under a cold desert.