Shimla, Jan 10: Heavy rains and snowfall paralysed normal life in Himachal Pradesh on Monday as road transport and power as well as water supply were disrupted in most areas.
Tourist hubs including Shimla, Manali, Narkanda, Dalhousie and Kufri got half to one foot thick layer of snow. Normal life was thrown out of gear in most places lashed by rains, officials said.
An elderly woman died in Bhanot village in Chamba district on Monday after heavy rains triggered a landslide. Entire tribal areas were cut off as nearly 400 roads including the Hindustan Tibet highway and the Manali-ATR-Keylong (NH-3) were snowbound.
In Shimla, power supply was off in most places, roads were under snow and commuters were forced to walk long distances. Water pipelines froze in many places in Shimla and other towns as the mercury plummeted several degrees into the minus.
Bharmaur (Chamba) and Khadrala (Shimla) recorded 60.9 cm of rains, Ghondla (Lahaul-spiti) 40 cm, Shimla 30 cm, Keylong 29 cm and Kufri 20 cm.
The minimum temperature in Keylong was minus 6.2 degrees, in Kalpa minus 3.8 degrees, in Manali minus 0.4 degrees, in Kufri minus 3.2 degrees, in Dalhousie 0 degree and in Shimla minus 0.3 degrees.
The Met office forecasts rain or snow in a few places on Monday and Tuesday.
