Nearly 300 people have been rescued out from Shishu and Koksar in Lahaul Valley through the Rohtang Tunnel, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) said on Wednesday. The rescued people include faculty and students from IIT-Mandi, IIT-Roorkee, IIT-Guwahati, IIT-Mumbai, some foreigners on trekking besides locals from Himachal Pradesh.
The rescue operations that were carried out jointly by Indian Air Force, BRO and other agencies began after people were found to be trapped in these areas following early snowfall in higher reaches, cloud burst and heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh from September 22 to 24, 2018.
Kullu district and Lahaul-Spiti were worst affected and due to heavy snowfall on Rohtang Pass, Lahaul and Spiti Valley have been cut off, which affected a large number of tourist who had gone to Leh and Lahaul Valley in Himachal Pradesh. They were stranded at a number of isolated locations.
BRO, in a statement said various axes were cleared on war footing. On Wednesday, teams were deployed from Rohtang Tunnel to clear road up to Shishu and Koksar in Lahaul Valley. BRO also provided medical aid and refreshment to rescued people at Rohtang Tunnel.
"Rohtang Tunnel which is under construction by BRO contributed immensely to evacuate and rescue stranded persons from Lahaul Valley to Manali. Rescue efforts will continue for next few days until all stranded persons are evacuated and safely taken out from Lahaul and Spiti Valley," BRO said in a statement.
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