Nine tourists airlifted in Himachal

MANALI - Nine more tourists from Maharashtra stranded in Lahaul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh were airlifted Monday after snowfall and landslides blocked the road leading to the region, police said.

“Seven people are still stranded there. We are trying to rescue them,” Superintendent of Police S.R. Rana told IANS on telephone from Keylong town.

He said 17 people were airlifted from Batal in Lahaul and Spiti Sunday and taken to Manali. The latest airlift also took place in Batal.

Rana said the stranded people were schoolchildren and their parents from various parts of Maharashtra, mainly Mumbai. Their visit was organised by private tour operators.

“They got stuck at Batal as heavy snow blocked the roads. The area is under three feet of snow,” he said.

According to him, the police came to know about the stranded tourists from shepherds June 11. The airlift began the next day.

“There is no telephone network in the area, so establishing contact with the group was almost impossible,” he added.

The trans-Himalayan Buddhist-dominated Lahaul and Spiti district has a rich treasure of monasteries.

The entire district, populated mainly by tribals, remains cut off from the rest of the country for more than six months every year due to snow.