Incessant rain ends prolonged dry spell

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 7

Uttarakhand was gripped with piercing cold wave conditions as mercury dipped further after light to moderate rain lashed plains, while snowfall was experienced in higher reaches of the state, since today morning ending the prolonged dry spell. The sporadic rainfall has thrown normal life out of the gear, forcing residents, by and large, chose to keep themselves indoors.

State Meteorological Centre forecasted cloudy sky, light to moderate rainfall or thunderstorm at isolated places in the plains, while moderate rainfall accompanied with snow could be experienced in the higher reaches of the state. The temperature stayed between 3 and minus 5 degree Celsius in most of cities of the state. The sudden drop in mercury resulted in an intense cold wave conditions in the entire state.

The residents felt bone-chilling cold after higher areas include, Badrinath, Kedarn[ath, Yamunotri, Gangotri, Chamoli, Harshil, Uttarkashi, Hemkund Sahib, Chakrata, Gopeshwar, Pithoragarh, Munsiyari, Dharchula, Almora received fresh snowfall.

State Meteorological Centre Director Vikram Singh forecasted light rain or snowfall at isolated places in hills especially at higher reaches of Uttarakhand, while partly cloudy sky would be experienced in Dehradun.

Meanwhile, several areas which include Dharampur, Haridwar road, Araghar, Nehru Colony, Rajpur road, EC road, Patelnagar, Govindgarh, Brahamanwala, Kargi, Subhasnagar witnessed power outage for hours due to rainfall. Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) technical staff strived to rectify technical snags. The power supply was resumed to most of the areas, except in the few colonies where testing of lines continued till afternoon.