In an announcement from the Ladakh Motorcycle Operator association, rental bikes Manali will not be allowed to enter Leh region. This also stops the pick up and drop of bikes between Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh till any further notice.
In a letter addressed the president of the Manali Bikers Association, the general secretary of the All Ladakh Motorcycle Operator Co-Operative Ltd. ,mentioned about the problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to the business on both ends. Due to rising number of bikers on this route, there were also quite a few issues happening from time to time. Also confusions were created because of the multiple businesses offering different packages on the Manali – Leh – Manali and the Manali – Leh – Srinagar routes.
A previous meeting in 2019 between both these groups allowed the drop of rental bikes picked up from Manali to be dropped off in Leh. And the similar was allowed for the return trips maintaining a balance. But the same was interrupted when bikes from Leh were stopped from using drop and pickup in Manali earlier this year. A request to solve this problem from the Ladakh group met a cold shoulder from the Manali group.
The beautiful roads on the Manali – Leh – Srinagar highway is one of the most beautiful as well as adventurous routes motorists get to explore in India. This also helps travelers to explore World’s Highest Memorable road open to public. The huge number of tourists, explores and adrenaline junkies means huge load on the locals of the sparingly populated region. And standoff between both the unions will definitely hamper businesses as well as travel plans of a lot of people.
