By IANS,
Shimla : More than 300 people were struggling for survival in the cold desert of Himachal Pradesh, a senior official said Sunday.
The stranded people, who were travelling on the 475-km-long Manali-Leh highway, “are stuck at different locations,” Lahaul and Spiti Deputy Commissioner C. Paul Rasu told IANS.
“The administration is in contact with them and all of them are fine. We have provided some rations to them,” he added.
“Employees of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) are working round the clock to open the National Highway 21,” Rasu said.
Sources in the BRO said “if the weather is normal, it might take another two days to clear the highway from the Baralacha pass to Sarchu”, located 222 km from famous tourist spot Manali.
The sources said the government had only rescued Tibetan spiritual leader Karmapa Ugyen Trinley Dorjee and 13 of his followers and the others were left to their own fate.
But Rasu said “our priority is to rescue each and every common man”.