15 km traffic jam in Manali forces tourists to haul trolley bags on icy roads; watch video and photos

Thousands of tourists were stranded in Manali for a second straight day on Sunday as icy roads and an unprecedented surge in traffic brought the hill town in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district to a standstill, forcing many to spend more than 10 hours to cover a 15km stretch amid sub-zero temperatures.

Exit routes out of Manali were the worst hit, with slippery stretches and tailgating vehicles triggering traffic jams stretching over 10km, up to the 15 Mile point near Patlikuhal, a small market town lower down the valley where snow had begun to melt. Despite snow-clearing efforts by the National Highways Authority of India, icy patches and sheer traffic volume rendered the two-lane Kullu–Manali highway nearly impassable, even as weather conditions remained largely clear through Saturday and Sunday.

A viral video allegedly shot around 2.30 am on Sunday showed tourists hauling trolley bags across icy roads, with some slipping and falling. For hundreds of travellers, the ordeal stretched through the night as buses, taxis and cars barely moved while temperatures plunged below freezing. Many, including children, spent Saturday night shivering inside vehicles. “It took us 12 hours just to reach Patlikuhal. We spent the night shivering in the car. I have never seen such a nightmarish traffic jam,” Kulwinder Singh from Ferozepur, Punjab, told TOI.



With frustration mounting, several tourists abandoned their vehicles and trekked downhill on foot towards Patlikuhal. “This is easily the worst jam I’ve ever seen. I can reach Patlikuhal faster on foot than by car,” Himanshu Sharma, a tourist from Noida, told TOI. The distance between Manali and Patlikuhal is roughly 15km, but for many, the journey took more than 10 hours.

As thousands attempted to exit Manali, thousands more tried to enter the town in search of snowfall. Police blocked fresh inflow at Patlikuhal and Bhuntar, near Kullu airport, to manage the situation. “We are only allowing 4x4 vehicles beyond Patlikuhal to prioritise evacuation of stranded tourists,” Manali DSP K D Sharma told TOI. Kullu SP Madan Lal described the rush as unprecedented, adding that about 200 police personnel have been deployed round the clock, though the narrow mountain highway remains overwhelmed.

Further disruption may lie ahead, with the meteorological office in Shimla forecasting another spell of heavy rain and snow from the night of January 26 through January 28. A severe cold wave continues across the state, with Tabo village in the remote Lahaul-Spiti district recording the lowest temperature at minus 10 degrees Celsius on Sunday, while Manali dropped to minus 1.1 degrees Celsius.