Orange alert issued in eight districts of Himachal Pradesh

Eight districts of Himachal Pradesh have been put on Orange Alert, as per the latest news reports. The Shimla Meteorological Centre has warned of thunderstorms, along with lightning and hail, at some isolated places in these districts.

On Monday, many parts of the state received fresh snowfall and rain, which brought down the temperature further, and intensified the cold conditions. Also, as per the Shimla Meteorological Centre Director Manmohan Singh, a fresh western disturbance has approached the state, the impact of which would likely be visible for the next two days.
He also added that heavy snowfall is expected in the higher areas of Shimla, Mandi, Sirmaur, Kangra, Chamba, and Kullu districts beside Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti during the next two days. Apart from this, the lower altitude areas of the state will be witnessing rain and hailstorm during this time. As a result, the maximum temperature across the hill station dropped 6 to 7 degree Celsius below normal.
He further mentioned that all roads in Shimla urban areas were accessible for vehicular traffic. Snow clearing operations on roads that are blocked due to snowfall are already in place, and the district administration has also deployed adequate machinery to ensure smooth traffic flow in those areas at the earliest. Later, on Monday evening, as many as 300 tourist vehicles were stranded in Solang Valley, after the vehicles started to skid.
A team was sent to the area to rescue the stranded people, and that the movement of vehicles would depend on weather conditions.