The strategic National Highway-22 (NH), which connects Manali town in Himachal Pradesh to Leh in Jammu and Kashmir, has been reopened for light vehicles after it was closed due to landslides on August 6th.
As some stretch of the highway between Upshi and Rumptse in Ladakh region is still under landslides, only small vehicles are allowed to ply at the moment. It will take some more days for the heavy vehicles to operate on the highway. The 222 km stretch of the highway between Manali and Sarchu was already made motorable in the first week of August for all type of vehicles.
However, Dev Raj Sharma, the senior manager of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) said that the bus service on the Manali-Leh segment would be resumed only after the highway is made motorable for heavy vehicles.
The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) currently operates a luxury bus service on this route. A cloudburst occurred at Choglamsar village on August 6th, which is situated above Leh town, causing flash floods and mudslides that washed away government offices, paramilitary camps and residential homes.
