Himachal peaks gets covered in white sheet, IMD issues warning for heavy snowfall

Chill in the air persisted in Himachal Pradesh as several higher reaches in the state received fresh snowfall, Meteorological department said Saturday. The tribal district Lahaul and Spiti's administrative centre Keylong has got 20 cm snow, whereas Kinnaur's Kalpa received 4 cm snow from 5.30 pm Friday to 8.30 am Saturday, the Shimla MeT Centre Director Manmohan Singh said. Gondola in Kullu district received 10.5 cm snowfall, Pooh in Kinnaur 8 cm and Kothi in Chamba district got 5 cm snowfall during the period, he said. However, no fresh snowfall occurred in Shimla on Saturday, he added.

Meanwhile, Keylong continued to be the coldest place in the state at minus 7 degrees Celsius, the MeT official said. The minimum temperature in Kalpa was minus 2 degrees Celsius, while it was minus 1.1 degrees in Dalhousie and minus 0.8 degrees Celsius in Kufri from 5.30 pm Friday to 8.30 am Saturday, he said.

It may be recalled that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had sounded an 'orange warning' of heavy snowfall, rain and hailstorm in most parts of the state from January 4 to 6. Acting on the weather advisory, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) had already made preparations to deal with any eventuality. The state and district control rooms are in a state of readiness to deal with any eventuality, a state official had said, adding that tourists and the general public have been advised to avoid the higher reaches in the coming days.

(With inputs from agencies.)