The Atal Tunnel in Rohtang has been congested since Monday causing a delay of 3-4 hours for commuters looking to celebrate a destination winter holiday. Thousands of vehicles with tourists hoping to celebrate a ‘white Christmas’ rushed to the spot causing congestion at the Manali-Solang Atal Tunnel. Shimla did not witness any snow this Christmas. The nine km long tunnel was thronged with tourists as more than 26,000 vehicles were recorded crossing the Atal Tunnel on Monday, the highest since its opening.
On Monday, around 9,600 vehicles had reached the Atal Tunnel between 8 AM and 4 PM. Tourists remained stuck in traffic for almost 3 to 4 hours at multiple spots between Manali and Atal Tunnel, mainly at Solang and Dhundi.
Lakhs of tourists flocked to Himachal Pradesh on Christmas Eve for year-end celebrations. The State is witnessing a huge rush of tourists at all the popular tourist destinations, especially at the, Atal Tunnel Rohtang, the longest in the world situated at a height of 10000 feet. around 65000 tourists were recorded at Atal Tunnel, Rohtang on Sunday with more than 12000 vehicles carrying them.
The town of Shimla did not witness any snow this year, but still it witnessed the arrival of a huge amount of tourist vehicles over the past 3 days. More than fifteen thousand vehicles have been recorded over the last 72 hours. The capital of Himachal Pradesh has been witnessing snowless Christmas since 2016 when last heavy snowfall occurred.