Thaindian News

Shimla, Sep 15 (IANS) Around 150 tourists, including 96 foreigners, remained stranded in Himachal Pradesh’s Spiti Valley following the closure of roads due to snowfall and landslides.
The tourists, including a large number of Israelis, are stranded at Kaza town in Lahaul and Spiti district.

“The tourists could not be evacuated as most roads leading to Kullu and Kinnaur districts are still closed to traffic due to landslides at various locations,” Superintendent of Police S.R. Rana told IANS.

“The domestic tourists are mostly from West Bengal whereas the foreign tourists are mostly from Israel,” he said. “The tourists are likely to be evacuated by Wednesday evening.”

Earlier reports had put the number of stranded tourists at 75 including 50 foreigners.

The administration is in contact with them and all of them are fine, Rana added.

According to him, the Spiti Valley is out of bounds as both the Kaza-Manali and Kaza-Kinnaur highways linking the valley with the rest of India have been shut for traffic.

“From Manali the highway is closed near the Kunzum Pass (4,551 meters). From Kinnaur it is closed near Nako. Work is on to clear the landslides,” he said.

The picturesque Spiti Valley in Lahaul and Spiti district is a tourist haunt.

The trans-Himalayan Buddhist-dominated district has a rich treasure of monasteries. It attracts globe-trotters not only for nature-based activities but also for exploring ancient monasteries like Tabo, which is over 1,000 years old.

The entire district, populated mainly by tribals, remains cut off from the rest of India for more than six months in a year due to heavy snowfall. Much of the valley is part of a cold desert.