Hate to break this sad news to all the motorcyclists heading to Ladakh, Lahaul, Spiti and Pangi Valley; but in order to cross Rohtang Jot from the Manali side, one now requires permit from the SDM Office in Manali.
This is in continuation to the crackdown Himachal Pradesh Government has indulged in, in order to lessen the number of vehicles visiting Rohtang Pass, which had been in force since last year.
While till last year this was only being implemented for four wheelers, from this year onward, it has been extended to two wheelers as well, as reported by several BCMTians heading to Ladakh and confirmed by the SDM Manali.
This means all those planning to take the Manali route, will either have to get the permit issued in advance by contacting hotels in Manali and paying them for the same or ensure that they arrive in Manali on working days, before 5pm and apply for the permit at the SDM Office or risk wasting half a day, next day.
I know it isn’t appropriate to ask for special treatment for bikers, when those traveling in four wheelers have had to go through this since last year, but at the end of the day, I am a motorcycle traveler and cannot help but feel saddened and dejected by this order and seriously wish that such orders were limited to four wheelers, since let’s face it, majority of the jams were only created by four wheelers and heavy vehicles.
Oh well, I guess it is time to start recommending people to go via the Srinagar route and maybe avoid Manali completely now, since if one is coming back from Leh, one can easily move on and stay at Kullu or lower to reduce the distance one has to cover on the last day.
So in a way, traveler’s loss might just end up becoming a loss for the travel industry in Manali, which in no doubt had lobbied to get this rule implemented in the first place!
6 Comments
Not good.. How is the traffic situation at Rohtang this year? Is it as bad as it was in 2011?
That is bad news. I agree it’s awkward to ask for special treatment, and but seriously and pragmatically, how often do you get traffic jams and environmentally poisonous clouds of diesel fumes coming from motorcycles on a mountain road?
From what I see on the net (the Times of India, etc), the permit requirement only applies to vehicles from outside the HP region. I assume that must mean the Manali-Rohtang highway was built by and funded exclusively from HP tax revenue. Is that right?
Arun, early in the season it was better than last year because road conditions was somewhat better. Now that Rani Nallah has become slide zone and there is plenty of mud flowing on the road and rocks falling, it is back to the same old stuff.
Jonico, I believe the original idea was to decongest Rohtang by only allowing vehicles which were heading to Lahaul, Spiti, Pangi and Ladakh. However, that would have meant running several buses/shuttle services to take tourists to Rohtang Jot, which requires time to build up.
Plus taxi union in Manali had been lobbying for a ban on out of state vehicles, because majority of the tourists these days take taxis from plains or bring their own vehicles and they were unable to charge whatever tariff they wanted and get away with it. A fact confirmed by the trouble these taxi drivers create for out of state vehicles at time. Eventually they got what they wanted, a free run and thus started trouble for genuine travelers visiting other parts of India.
Himachal Government on the other hand is busy congratulating itself by showing more snow deposit in late May and early June as proof that this has worked. Even though fact of the matter is, roads opened late this year because it continued snowing in May and June!
It is complete bull shit by the Travel Mafia. Manali is the most dirtiest and shitty hill stations in India with the shabbiest mall road. Just it has the best snow vista of all hill station.
We were choaked to death by the arsenic deisel exhaust of these Taxi mafia, on our unplanned detour from Gamphoo to Manali thru Rohtang. Clearly the biggest harm to the environment is done by these Taxi people who take just too many people to Rohatan, which has virtually become a zoo. The private vehicles are way better in pollution norms.
Our 2012 Sanlga-Spiti-Lahul-Leh trip was cut short by similar man created land slide on the chattru-Gramphoo section, where the water was gushing down from the Ice-Tamasha field of Rohtang top.
If permit be required, it should be apply to EACH and EVERY tourist visiting Rohtang.
Looks like 100 main 99 be-iman holds so true for this new hassle for brave riders, who are always short on time from their Monday-to-friday job earning money for such trip. Shame on the system and the curse to the Taxi Mafai
Hi Yogesh,
we are travelling to Leh via manali starting 16th june morning from manali on bikes. is this permit thing still required for rohtang pass for non hp no. bikes.
regards
Harkanwal
Harkanwal, SDM Office in Manali is stating that permit is required. However, no biker has yet been turned back for lack of permit, so there isn’t clarity on this issue.
Having said that, it is better to just get the permit and then proceed, to be on the safer side.