Shimla, February 11
A blinding blizzard lashed the “queen of hills” and mid-hill areas of the state today, paralysing normal life.
The snow-storm hit the region in the wee hours and continued till the evening. The state capital and the surrounding areas donned an impeccable white mantle, much to the delight of the tourists and the locals who have been waiting for the elusive snowfall all through the winter.
As per the local
meteorological office, by the evening the city had received 71 cm of snow. The Jakhu peak and nearby tourist resort of Kufri were under knee-deep snow. The Hatu peak, overlooking the tourist resort of Narkanda, was under 90 cm of snow,
while Churdhar and Rohtang Pass had over 100 cm of snow. The tribal district of Kinnaur had moderate snow, with Kalpa recording 15 cm. The upper Shimla area and parts of Kinnaur district were cut off, as roads beyond Shimla were blocked due to heavy snow. The Rampur-bound buses were diverted via Dhami and Basantpur. The buses to Rohru area were being plied through
Vikasnagar.
The belated snowfall disrupted life, as high- velocity winds uprooted trees, snapping power lines, which affected power supply and telecom services. Many areas of the city were without power till evening. Water supply to many localities was also hit. Traffic came to a grinding halt and queues of vehicles lined up on both sides of Circular road, Dhalli, Sanjauli and even the main highway, leading to Chandigarh remained blocked for sometime. Commuters had to tread through snow for several kilometres to reach their destinations.
The snow, which is considered as white manure for the apple orchards, raised hopes of a good crop. Farmers in the lower hills heaved a sigh of relief as widespread rain brought them relief from drought-like conditions.
Chandigarh: Heavy rain, accompanied by thunder squalls, lashed Punjab and Haryana for the second consecutive day today, uprooting trees, snapping telecommunication lines and crippling normal life. Chandigarh received 63.5 mm of rainfall during the night and a thunder squall with a wind speed of 64.8 kmph hit the city past
midnight, affecting power supply. Uprooted trees, twisted electricity poles and snapped telecommunication lines were witnessed at some places. Another squall also hit the city shortly before noon today, with wind gusting up to 55.5 kmph.
In Haryana, Ambala was the wettest place, recording 75.7 mm of rain, while Karnal received 61 mm.
Hisar 59.4 mm, Narnaul 44 mm, Nilokheri 72.8 mm and Chachrauli 70 mm were among the wettest places in the state, the Meteorological Department said here. Rains resulted due to a western disturbance over the region.
Under its influence, Punjab also got a drenching.
Amritsar was lashed by 21.2 mm of rainfall, Hoshiarpur (32 mm), Ludhiana (22.1 mm) and Patiala (44.1 mm).
Ferozepore and Bathinda also received rain, which is being considered beneficial for the wheat crop.
Meanwhile, the Met Department has forecast rain or thundershowers at many places in Punjab and at a few places in Haryana over the next two days.
Srinagar: Fresh Western Disturbances from Pakistan finally ended the two-month long dry spell, as the upper reaches experienced moderate to heavy snowfall, while plains, including the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, had rains.
Traffic on the 300-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway was disrupted for about two hours following landslides, triggered by rains, at Penthal. The highway was through for traffic from Jammu to
Srinagar today.
Reports reaching here said about 2 feet of fresh snowfall was experienced at Sadhna Top in the frontier district of Kupwara. All high-altitude areas in the North Kashmir had snowfall, it said.
However, all routes to far-flung and remote areas remained open despite snowfall.
The world-famous ski resort of Gulmarg had also light snowfall, while upper reaches, including Affarwat and Khilanmarg, had about 6 inches to 1 feet of fresh snowfall, much to the delight of skiers and adventure lovers.
About 6 inches to 1 feet of fresh snowfall was also recorded at holy Amarnath cave its periphery, Sheshnag, Mahaguns, Pisso top and Panjtherni.
Srinagar and other plain areas in the valley had rains since last evening, ending the two-month-long dry spell. We will overcome the deficit rainfall, a weather office spokesman told UNI.
He said in the past, the Western Disturbances, crossing over to this side from Pakistan, were moving towards China and other places without touching Jammu and Kashmir. However, some upper reaches were having snowfall due to the disturbances.
We had only 8.1 mm of rainfall in Srinagar in January against normal of 56.7 mm, he said.
A white carpet today greeted pilgrims at the world-famous Mata Vaishnodevi’s cave shrine on the Trikuta hills of Katra. Temperature at the shrine dropped to shivering point as Trikuta hills received heavy snowfall last night.
