Those planning to spend the New Year eve and New Year in the picturesque Manali and the scenic Kulu valley better check if the hotel or resort they have booked in has power connectivity for providing warmth or not.
Braving minus zero temperature thousands of people came on the streets in Manali against the failure of the Government to restore power supply and other essential services in most parts of the valley for the last over two weeks. The economy of the town is dependent on tourism. Thousands of people throng to the town every New Year eve to spend a memorable time. But this time, the situation is different due to failure of the Government to restore power supply after heavy snowfall almost two weeks ago.
The protest march in Manali was led by BJP MlA Gobind Singh Thakur. He alleged that for the last two weeks most parts of panoramic Manali valley, a world famous tourists resort, had been plunged into darkness due to the apathy of the Government towards the pangs of the people shivering under acute cold conditions. He said common people were suspecting that Virbhadra Singh was punishing the people of Mandi Parliamentary constituency for defeating the Congress candidate and wife of chief minister, Pratibha Singh, in the recent Parliamentary elections. He said this serious matter was being brought to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by all the four MPs of the hill State.
Simultaneously, the left parties also took out a protest march at Kulu and a big demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner office. CPM district secretary Hotam Singh Saunkhla, who led the demonstration, said even after two weeks of the snowfall most areas of the district were still in darkness and essential services had not been restored. “It was due to the fact that thousands of posts in PWD and HPSEB were lying vacant and the State had been brought on the brink of bankruptcy by the ruling Congress due to its wrong policies and extravagance and rehabilitation of defeated and rejected politicians loyal to the Chief Minister,” he said.
Those dependent on tourism in the area are helpless and don’t know what to do in the absence of tourists. If the hotels do not have electricity and heaters, tourists cannot spend the night due to sub-zero temperature. The tourism industry hopes that power is restored in a day as still there is some time left for the celebrations to begin.