Shimla, June 5 -- A massive summer tourist rush, fueled by severe heatwaves across the plains, has triggered unprecedented surge in vehicle footfall at the Atal Tunnel, pushing the 9.02-kilometre engineering marvel well beyond its designed capacity of handling 4,500 cars per day, raising serious safety concerns.

"There is heavy traffic, and there is a need to rethink our carrying capacity. We need to think seriously about this," said Himachal Pradesh revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi on Thursday, calling for coordinated action by all stakeholders to address growing traffic congestion

The recent weeks have seen single-day entries skyrocket at the Atal Tunnel, with nearly 11,000 passing through it. The tunnel connects Manali with Keylong,...