The first bus on the Manali-Kaza route to the Spiti valley in nine months was forced to turn back midway on Thursday due to damaged road, an official said.
The route was opened Thursday after the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) submitted a road fitness report after snow clearance, Himachal Road Transport Corporation regional manager Mangal Chand Manepa said.
When the bus reached Chota Dara, it was found that a portion of the road had been damaged away.Though light vehicles were allowed to ply on the route, bus services were stopped, he told PTI.
The road is closed every year for several months, when parts of it are blocked by snow. The alternative Shimla-Kaza route, however, remains open.
BRO officials said they are trying their best to open the road for buses.
The bus had started its journey from Kullu for Kaza via Manali at 3.30 am Thursday, but when it reached near Chota Dara in Spiti valley around 1 pm after covering a distance of 135 km, the road was found washed away, Manepa said, adding that it returned to Manali,
"However light vehicles are plying on the route without any interruptions," he said, adding that bus services on the Kullu-Kaza route will be resumed only after repairs.
Taumpa Laute a resident of Spiti urged Transport Minister Govind Singh Thakur to use the Manali-Gramphu-Kaza route for attending a Janmanch programme at Kaza on July 7 so that he might get first hand experience of the problems being faced by the tribal people.
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