TRAVEL: Manali losing its summer charm

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA

The popular hill station in Himachal Pradesh attracts over 30 lakh domestic tourists and another lakh and half foreigners every year. But those who come here in the rush season vow never to come back as infrastructure has not kept pace with the tourist arrival and lack of any regulation on plying of vehicles has ensured that Manali remains one of the most polluted hill stations in May-June every year.

Traffic jam at Rohtang Pass

Almost every urban tourist who was here in June this year, vowed not to visit the place in the peak tourist season when dust, vehicular pollution and traffic jams in and around the city spoil the holidays and leave you wondering what are you doing here in the first place in this madness.

One of the most picturesque places in the country where nature has offered almost everything it could-flowing Beas river besides the small town of Manali, the mighty snow capped peaks all around, air conditioned weather escape from the blistering heats of the planes, the huge and centuries-old deodar and pine trees and of course so many avenues for adventure sports, trekking and the Rohtang pass, 51 km away.

Once that lures you to the place in June and you decide to make a trip, you realise how wrong the decision has been. The small town is overflowing with people from all parts of the country. There is no place to sit anywhere and all you have is the market and the restaurants where you can rest your aching legs. There are masseurs moving around and they will give you a knee down massage for a meagre   `25 to 50, depending on your bargaining skills. But obviously you did not come here for that.

Perhaps traffic jam at the highest point in India with
snow capped peaks all around in June 2013

If you are not a lover of adventure sports, biking, cycling or trekking and came here to hear the mesmerising sound of the gushing Beas river, hear the silence in the woods amid the tall trees, hear the birds chirping in the fruit orchards and besides the window of your guest house, you will be disappointed. Vehicles and taxis of all hues have silenced all other voices and you cannot hear nature speak to you. Fed up with vehicles all around you and even threatening to mow you down on the narrow streets, you head for an eating place to try out some local cuisine. In this globalised era, there is no local Himachali food available here. You have plenty of Punjabi food, chat, Chhole Bhature and what not. Thankfully, the food MNCs have not yet invaded the place. But that is little succour. Even after asking half the population of the town, I could not find any restaurant where local Himachali cuisine was being offered. When I was here the last time, almost a decade back, a Tibetan monk had a small eatery which specialised in excellent Tibetan food. I still remember the Thupka and the Momos which I had then. But it had closed in a decade as the Buddhist monk could not perhaps cope with the rising commercialisation. I asked the shops about the monk in the saffron robe selling Tibetan food, none of the young shopkeepers had any idea. One Raju Lama with a big ponytail has now opened a small outlet above the Tibetan market. It was better than the other stuff being offered in the town though not as good as the one sold by the monk in saffron robe. 

Next day, it was time to head for the Rohtang Pass, on the National Highway going to Leh. Due to its strategic importance, an all-weather tunnel is being constructed here. The road remains open only for around six months in a year due to heavy snowfall and the BRO maintained road passes through glaciers and melting snow. If traffic jams in the town were not enough, here you find thousands of vehicles heading for the pass at almost 4000 metre above the sea level. Perhaps, this could be the biggest traffic jam of the world at such a height. Even an early start of 5 am leaves you amid a massive traffic jam which you could see on the roads above you and below you in a serpentine queue. Unbelievable. I had seen traffic jams lasting hours in the cities but this was simply on top of the list of traffic jams. What is worse is that this happens every day in May and June.

What a view. But the serpentine que of vehicles
remains an eyesore in the peak summer months

As the serpentine queue grew in length, a few people simply decided to turn back after spending an hour in the traffic jam at perhaps the highest peak. There were snow-capped peaks all around and there were walls of snow besides the road where hundreds of vehicles were idling. Heavy stench of burnt diesel was in the air due to the movement in bumper to bumper traffic.   I was lucky. The traffic started moving after an hour and a half.

After reaching t he top and spending a few minutes, the prime concern was not to enjoy the magnificent view all around the Rohtang Pass but to return back safely before sunset to the Circuit House in Manali where I was staying. We again started early as the driver of the taxi warned us that a day before, it took him seven hours to complete the 51 km journey downhill. Despite starting early from Rohtang, there were traffic snarls all around and it took almost five hours to reach Manali. Two traffic jams of an hour each with snow walls and mountains all around spoiled the mood. One could never have imagined a traffic jam at such a place. May be we will soon see a traffic light, the highest on the peaks to control vehicular movement.

There was a plan to build a ropeway to Rohtang but strong opposition from the 5000-strong local taxi union thwarted the move. I asked the taxi driver, what is the point of ferrying people to Rohtang when all of them would curse you at the end of it, he merely said, “we get employment for two months in a year.” The government should seriously think about it and give tourists as option-either go by taxi or the ropeway.

It was time to head back to Chandigarh. But the road itself is in shambles in several places with no strengthening work undertaken after last year’s monsoon. The Manali-Kullu road is full of potholes in several sections. While the road from Kullu to Mandi is much better as you move besides the Beas, the road further ahead again has potholes in several stretches. Some of them in and around Swarghat from where the border of Punjab begins are so big that it could damage the vehicles severely.

Government earns crores from tourists. It charges `200 from every non-Himachal Pradesh vehicle entering Manali. This is in addition to `30 it charges for entering the State. As roads are the only mode of transportation in the city, the neglect was nothing else but pathetic governance. You simply want to drive away the tourists and ensure that they do not come again.

Post Script: Do visit Manali for a great holiday but ensure that you do not come here in the peak tourist months of May and June. (June 10, 2013)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/2013-06-10-10805.html

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