The Hindu : Other States / Himachal Pradesh News : Rohtang Pass opens

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Saturday, Oct 16, 2004

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Other States - Himachal Pradesh

Rohtang Pass opens

SHIMLA, OCT. 15. The Rohtang Pass which was closed due to heavy snowfall for the past five days was opened today but vehicular traffic is expected to be resumed only by tomorrow.

The Ground Engineering Reserve Force (GREF) men worked overtime to clear the 13,050 ft pass which was covered under 130 cm thick layer of snow for resumption of vehicular traffic.

The tribal Lahual and Pangi valleys remained cut off from rest of the State for the sixth day today and normal traffic was likely to resume tomorrow, according to Commanding Officer of GREF, K.B. Raju.

He said the pass had been opened and the vehicles of the 6th Raid-de-Himalaya motor rally would be taken out on priority.

The rallyists were stuck up in the tribal area since October 9 and the last leg of the rally from Paang to Manali had to be cancelled. Hundreds of vehicles including trucks laden with potato and other supplies were stranded in the valley due to closure of the road.

Meanwhile, intense cold wave conditions persisted in entire tribal belt and higher hills even as the region had some respite from inclement weather. The minimum temperature in high altitude tribal area stayed between -8 and - 15 degree Celsius, affecting normal life within the tribal valleys. The maximum temperature rose to 18 degrees in Shimla town. The Associate Director of the Fruit Research Centrer, Mashobra (Shimla), S.R. Bharadwaj, assured that the snowfall would not affect the apple crop as 85 per cent of the crop had already been marketed.

PTI

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Rohtang Pass opens