Tourists head for the hills as Shimla gets this winter’s heaviest snowfall

The capital of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday witnessed the season’s heaviest snowfall, which snapped internal road links and disrupted water and power supply but tourists headed for the hills to make merry.

“Shimla and its adjoining tourist destinations of Kufri and Narkanda experienced overnight snowfall and this was the heaviest till date this season,” an official of the meteorological department said here.

As news of the snowfall spread, tourists flocked to these destinations. “We had been awaiting a heavy spell of snow for many days,” said Nidhi Khanna, a tourist from Chandigarh, who was in Shimla along with her friends.

Shimla, which saw a low of minus 0.5 degrees Celsius, recorded more than 20 cm of snowfall, while Kufri and Mashobra recorded more than 40 cm of snowfall each.

The snowy landscape in Shimla will stay this way for two-three days, an official of the Met office said.

ROADS BLOCKED, WATER

AND POWER SUPPLY HIT

Residents had a tough time as several link roads leading to Shimla town have been blocked and water supply has been disrupted in Jakhu and US Club areas. Localities, including Jakhu, Chhota Shimla, Kasumpati and Ram Chandra Chowk, are without electricity.

As many as 88 link roads are blocked in Shimla district, including 68 in Rohru sub division. Vehicles going from Shimla to Rampur Bushahr are being diverted through Basantpur. The Shimla district administration has deployed machinery for road clearance but continuous snowfall is hampering work.

Khada Pathar got 60cm of snowfall, Khadrala in Shimla district received 33cm of snowfall, Theog 12cm, Jubbal 7.5cm and Gondla 18.5cm of snowfall.

Heavy rainfall occurred at isolated places, including 49mm in Nadaun in Hamirpur, 44mm at Naina Devi in Bilaspur, 36mm in Rampur Bushahr and 34mm in Karsog in Mandi.

Solan and Palampur towns recorded 46 mm and 42 mm of rainfall, respectively.

RESPITE IN SIGHT

Manali, which experienced a low of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius, recorded 22 cm of snowfall. Rohtang Pass, 52 km from Manali, also got heavy snowfall. Dalhousie in Chamba district received 35 cm of snowfall and the minimum temperature fell to -1.4 degrees.

Kalpa, 250 km from the state capital, and Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district got 16cm and 8cm of snowfall, respectively. These towns saw the night temperature fall to 2.8 degrees and 5.6 degrees Celsius below freezing point.

State meteorological department director Manmohan Singh said, “Due to fresh western disturbance, heavy snowfall and rainfall is expected to continue in Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, Bilaspur and parts of Mandi, Kullu, Kangra and Kinnaur districts. The weather will be clear on January 9 and 10. Fresh western disturbance is likely to affect the region from January 11,” he added. (With IANS input)