Fresh snow, rain bring mercury down in HP; over 300 roads closed

Kullu: The mid and high hills of Himachal Pradesh received fresh spell of rain and snow on Sunday, even as hundreds of roads across the state remained blocked.Fresh snowfall was recorded in parts of Lahaul Spiti district and in the upper reaches of Kullu, Chamba, Kinnaur and Shimla district, triggering a cold wave across the state. The high mountain passes, including the Rohtang Pass, received fresh snowfall.
It also snowed in the Atal Tunnel area, Kothi and in Palchan near Manali. Chamba's Pangi valley and Fagu and Narkanda in Shimla also received fresh snowfall.In the mid and high hills, hundreds of roads remained blocked due to the previous two spells of snowfall. The highest 262 roads remained blocked in the Lahaul Spiti district – 141 in the Spiti sub-division and 121 in the Lahaul sub-division.According to the District Disaster Management Authority, a total of 77 roads were still closed in Kullu district, with the highest 37 in the Nirmand sub-division.The mid and low hills, including at Kullu, Bhuntar, Mandi, Bilaspur, Una, Kangra, Chamba and Hamirpur, recorded moderate to heavy rainfall on Sunday.Tabo in Lahaul Spiti was the coldest in Himachal with the minimum temperature dipping to -3.6ºC. Kukumseri recorded a low of -3.1ºC, while mercury plummeted to -0.4ºC in Kalpa.Among the tourist destinations, Manali recorded a minimum of 0.8ºC, Dharamshala 3ºC, and Shimla 3.6ºC.The Meteorological Centre, Shimla, has predicted the possibility of light rain and snowfall in the mid and high hill areas of the state on Feb 2 and 3.MSID:: 127841910 413 |