Story perspectives

Manali Traffic Cripples Roads During Gandhi Jayanti Weekend

By Drooid · Oct 3, 2026, 4:09 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Tourists clogged Manali’s roads during the Gandhi Jayanti long weekend, causing severe traffic jams.
Vehicles queued from Manali’s entrance through Mall Road, Solang Nullah, to the Atal Tunnel.
Hotel occupancy in Himachal’s main tourist centres reached 60 %–80 % over the weekend.
Gajender Thakur, president of the Federation of Himachal Hotels and Restaurant Association, called for tourist-protection police.
Superintendent Kulbhushan Verma placed officers and a Quick Reaction Team at 100–150 m intervals in McLeod Ganj.

History

Historical Context

Created in 1975, the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation began coordinated campaigns that helped lift domestic arrivals, which peaked in the mid-1980s and later reached 18 million in 2024. The resulting surge created chronic congestion in hill stations such as Manali, where the Atal Tunnel now channels traffic, prompting authorities to adopt dedicated traffic-management and tourist-protection plans.

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Story summary

Tourists clogged Manali’s roads during the Gandhi Jayanti long weekend, causing severe traffic jams.
Vehicles queued from Manali’s entrance through Mall Road, Solang Nullah, to the Atal Tunnel.
Hotel occupancy in Himachal’s main tourist centres reached 60 %–80 % over the weekend.
Gajender Thakur, president of the Federation of Himachal Hotels and Restaurant Association, called for tourist-protection police.
Superintendent Kulbhushan Verma placed officers and a Quick Reaction Team at 100–150 m intervals in McLeod Ganj.

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