Shimla, May 10 (IANS) The Rohtang Pass, at an altitude of 13,050 feet in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district, was temporarily closed for vehicular traffic due to heavy snow, officials said. The pass was opened to the traffic after four months’ closure earlier this month.
“The road link to the tribal Lahaul Valley through the Rohtang Pass was temporarily closed this (Sunday) morning due to heavy snow,” Kullu Deputy Commissioner M. Sudha Devi told IANS by phone.

“The traffic has been closed to avoid any mishap due to accumulation of snow (on the road). The traffic will be restored as the snow-clearing operation is completed,” she added.

However, the work to completely open the 475-km Manali-Leh National Highway 21 is in progress.

S.K. Doon, commander of the 38 Task Force of the General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF) - a wing of the Border Road Organisation that maintains the highway - said the complete opening of the Manali-Leh highway was going on at a fast pace at different locations.

“Our priority is to make the 60-km stretch between Manali and Rohtang Pass again motorable so that the link to the Lahaul Valley would be restored,” he added.