Around 200 vehicles blacklisted

Manali: Around 200 vehicles were blacklisted by Manali administration for violation directions of the NGT and Manali District Administration. . The Rohtang pass mountains at the 3978 height of m above sea level has snow almost ten months in a year and is most popular amongst the tourists visiting Manali.

Its prudent to mention here that few years back, the National Green Tribunal(NGT) directed the administration of Kullu –Manali H.P to limit the number of vehicles going to Rohtang pass every day to check the pollution and main its scenic value.

This year, the Rohtang pass opened for tourists on May 23 and as soon as SDM Manali opened the permits lots of complaints against the taxi operators for overcharging and violation of NGT directions. The NGT has allowed only 1200 vehicles including 800 petrol and 400 diesel per day for Rohtang pass but many local taxi drivers on pretext of going to lahaul which can only reached Rohtang pass seeked the permit and in that case the number of vehicle reaching Rohtang was much higher than what was permissible.

The authorities here provide two types of permits one is up till Rohtang at Rs550 and other type is for Rs 600 for Lahaul. The administration has challenged more than 200 vehicle for violating the norms and more over blacklisted them from getting the permit for Rohtang for next 15 days.

SDM Manali told to hill post that the vehicles blacklisted if found repeating the act will be blacked listed permanently.

Sanjay Dutta

Sanjay Dutta, an engineer by qualification but is a journalist by choice.

He has worked for the premier new agency Press Trust of India and leading English daily Indian Express.

With more than a decade of experience, he has been highlighting issues related to environment, tourism and other aspects affecting mountain ecology.

Sanjay Dutta lives in a village close to Manali in Kullu valley of Himachal.