Landslide blocks Chandigarh-Manali highway, some traffic restored

The Chandigarh-Manali national highway was blocked on Monday following a massive landslide along the Beas river in Himachal Pradesh, police said. Traffic has now been partially restored.

No casualties were reported even though vehicles were moving on the busy highway, police officials said.

Nearly 150 metres of the national highway was badly damaged in the landslide which occurred near Dawada village.

Hundreds of vehicles remained stranded on both sides of the landslide affected area for the whole of Monday.

Mandi district authorities claimed that traffic was partially restored for small vehicles through diversions on alternate roads.

"JCB machines are trying to clear the debris. The hill (where the landslide occurred) is being examined before the area is cleared for movement of traffic," said a district official.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and district authorities have deployed equipment to remove the debris.