Himachal Pradesh: Heavy Snow-Incessant Rain Paralyses Life

Shimla, Feb 4: Heavy Snowfall and incessant rainfall amid thick fog paralysed normal life in Himachal Pradesh as inclement weather conditions continue for the second day on Friday, the Met Office said. As people came out from their homes Friday morning they found thick blanket of snow in their surroundings along with snowflakes showering from the sky incessantly. Khadrala (Shimla) recorded 48 cm snowfall, Shillaru and Tourist resort Dalhousie recorded one feet each (30cm) snow till 0830hrs, Chopal 25.4 mm & Shimla 21 2 cm, Manali 20cm, Kalpa(Kinnaur)10 cm and Keylong (Lahaul-Spiti) two cm.

The high reaches and gateway to Lahaul-Spiti, Rohtang pass recorded two feet thick fresh snow, Kunzum pass, Lady of Keylong, Baralacha, Saptarshi hills and Goshal hills, Dhauldhar ranges of Kangra, Shikari Devi of Mandi, Kinner Kailash of Kinnuar, Narkanda, Khadrala, Kharapather, Kupvi, Churdhar and Chanshal pass of Shimla got got very heavy snowfall snapping power supply and communication services in the upper hills of the state.

Shimla Airport at altitude of 4500 feet and its nearby areas like Kandaghat, tourist resort Kasauli, Chail (Solan) and Barog, Rajgarh, Harpurdhar and Giripur (Sirmour) registered major snowfall after gap of 25 years. Nahan, headquarter of Sirmaur had 60 mm rain, Nainadevi(Bilaspur) 58.4 mm, Una 52.6 mm, Bilaspur 36 mm & Poanta-Shaib (Sirmaur) 32 mm each, Solan and Chamba 30 mm, Dharmshala 29 mm and Kangra 23 mm.Most places in the mid and foothills were raining since last two days and engulfed by heavy clouds cover and thick fogs reducing the visibility.

Around 400 roads including Hindustan Tibet National Highway, Manali-ATR-Keylong and others NH and state highways are snow bound. Routes of around 300 HRTC and Private buses were not operating in the state. Minimum temperature in Keylong was minus 6.9 degrees Celsius(two degrees low of yesterday) , in Kalpa in Kinnuar minus 4.7 degrees, Kufri minus 3.2 degrees, Shimla & Manali Manali minus 0.4 degrees each, in Dalhousie minus 2 degrees Chamba 2 degrees, Solan & Dharmshala 3.2 degrees each, in Mandi 5.6 degrees and in Kangra it was 6.6 degrees Celsius .

Met Office sounds advisory of continue heavy rain and snowfall in some places state for next 24 hours and severe coldwave in enter North West Himalayan states. Forecast of light to moderate rainfall in Sirmour, Kullu, Shimla, Mandi and Chamba or Snowfall is made in most places in Shimla, Lahaul Spiti and Kinnuar districts.