Shimla gets heaviest snowfall of the season

SHIMLA: Normal life was thrown out of gear at several places in Himachal following heavy snowfall and widespread rain on Tuesday. Shimla and its surrounding areas received the heaviest snowfall of the season while the high-altitude tribal areas, higher hills and high mountain passes were covered under 60 cm to 80 cm blanket of snow.

Bhanu P Lohumi
Tribune News Service
Shimla, January 22

Normal life was thrown out of gear at several places in Himachal following heavy snowfall and widespread rain on Tuesday. Shimla and its surrounding areas received the heaviest snowfall of the season while the high-altitude tribal areas, higher hills and high mountain passes were covered under 60 cm to 80 cm blanket of snow.

The traffic to upper Shimla was suspended due to heavy snow while vehicles to Rampur were diverted via Dhami-Basantpur and Kingal. As many as 377 roads, including five national highways, were closed while 204 roads were closed in Shimla district alone.

The traffic was affected within Shimla. Emergency roads and the roads leading to hospitals were buried under snow but these were cleared. The power supply was disrupted in Shimla while several areas in upper Shimla region reeled under severe cold. Shimla, carpeted with white snow, presented a fascinating look and a large number of tourists and locals came out, braving the extreme cold conditions and enjoyed the snow.

“We are very happy to see the heavy snowfall and our trip is fruitful,” said Sanjay, a tourist from Bangalore. Occupancy in hotels is above 60 per cent and the tourist rush is expected to increase. However, some commuters were stranded near Shoghi as roads were closed due to skidding of vehicles.

The Shimla administration rescued 84 students from Lucknow, who were stranded between Kufri and Chharabra, and lodged them in local hotels, the campus of the IIHM and at the Territorial Army unit at Kufri, Shimla DC Amit Kashyap said.

Snow-clearing operations were continuing on a war footing and instructions had been issued to clear the roads so that the vehicular movement was restored in the city and other areas.

Adequate supply of essential commodities was available while vehicles had been deployed at Shoghi to bring milk, bread, vegetables, etc to Shimla if the road remained closed, he added.

The mighty Dhauladhars, Chansel, Saach and Kunzam passes received heavy snow while Dharamsala, Dalhousie and Manali also experienced snow. The upper Shimla region and Kinnaur district were cut off from rest of the state while people in Lahaul and Spiti district were forced to stay indoors as normal life was also paralysed.

Kufri received 60 cm of snow while Shimla recorded 40 cm of snow, followed by Sangla 30 cm, Kothi 20 cm, Manali 18 cm and Dalhousie 15 cm. Intermittent snowfall was continuing in Kharapathar and Narkanda.

The lower hills and parts of mid hills received widespread rain and Ghamroor was the wettest with 62 mm rain, followed by Dharamsala 47 mm, Guler 45 mm, Baldwara 42 mm, Kasauli 41 mm, Gaggal 40 mm, Nagrota Surian 39 mm, Solan 34 mm, Naina Devi and Palampur 32 mm, Bhoranj, Bangana and Sarkaghat 31 mm, Kangra and Yol 30 mm, Nadaun and Kheri 28 mm, Amb 27 mm, Aghar 26 mm, Una and Jogindernagar 25 mm, Amb 27 mm, Hamirpur and Dehra Gopipur 23 mm and Kotkhai and Una 22 mm.

The local MeT office has predicted thundershowers and rain in lower hills and rain or snow in mid and higher hills over the next four days till January 26.