Himachal residents shiver after fresh snowfall, rains

Cold wave conditions intensified after snowfall in the high and mid hills and rains in the lower hills of Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday, an official at the Meteorological (MeT) Department said. The district administration has decided to close all the government and private schools in Chamba Wednesday following heavy snowfall in Dalhousie (2 feet), Bharmour (1.5 feet), Pangi (3 feet), Teesa (1 feet) and Kihar (1 feet), a spokesperson said.

Roads leading to Haripur Dhar, Chopal and Nohra Dhar areas were closed for the vehicular traffic since early morning, said Sukhram Thakur from the HRTC Depot at Nahan. Thakur told PTI that more than one dozen of government buses were stranded in the snow-bound areas.

The intensity of cold wave conditions could be understood from the fact that maximum temperatures in Manali and Dalhousie were minus 1.7 and minus 0.4 degrees Celsius Tuesday, the MeT Centre (Shimla) Director Manmohan Singh said. The minimum temperature in Kufri was zero degrees Celsius, Kalpa recorded a low of 0.4 degrees Celsius, 1.9 degrees Celsius in Shimla and 2 degrees Celsius is Keylong.

Shimla, Manali, Kufri, Narkanda, Kalpa and Sangla received heavy snowfall, Singh said, adding that Shimla received 41.3 cm of snow Tuesday. Kufri received 40 cm of snow, Manali 18 cm, Sangla 30 cm and Kalpa 14.5 cm, he said.

Besides, the plains and lower hills of the state received 1 mm to 35 mm of rainfall, he said. The highest temperature in the state was recorded in Una at 12.2 degrees Celsius, he added. The MeT Department has predicted intermittent light snowfall in Shimla, Kinnaur and high reaches of the state.