While Atal Tunnel has become a major tourist attraction since its inauguration in October this year, many incidents involving miscreants have been reported from the spot.
In a recent incident, the Himachal Pradesh Police have arrested seven people on a road trip to Kullu-Manali. The group was seen taking pictures by parking their cars in the middle of the tunnel in Rohtang.
They were also dancing, singing and recording videos. Numerous clips from the incident have gone viral, which helped police to expedite the action.
A total of 15 people in two vehicles were arrested on Sunday for causing obstruction in traffic inside Atal Tunnel Rohtang (ATR) and violating Covid-19 norms.?
Eight of them have also been fined ?40,000 by the Himachal Pradesh police.
"A total of 15 persons in 2 vehicles have been arrested today for causing obstruction in traffic in the tunnel and for Covid violations and 8 of them have also been fined ?40,000 under HP Police Act inside Atal Rohtang tunnel," said Gaurav Singh, Superintendent of Police, Kullu District.
Moreover, over 30 drivers who were overtaking the queue were fined for disturbing traffic movement.
These arrests were made on a day when a record number of 5,450 vehicles crossed the Atal Tunnel, an all-weather road beneath the 13,058-foot-high Rohtang Pass.
"Today, the Atal Tunnel Rohtang experienced the highest influx of the season with as many as 2,800 vehicles entering the valley and 2,650 leaving towards Manali. The daily average influx for December has been around 1,500 vehicles," said SP Lahaul Spiti district police.
A total of 2,800 vehicles entered the tunnel from the Manali side while 2,650 vehicles came from the Lahaul side.
The longest highway tunnel is an all-weather 9.02 km long road at an elevation of 10,000 feet which connects Manali to Lahaul-Spiti. I