After much delay, Shimla gets season's first snow; tourists flock to hill station

Subash Rajta

Shimla, January 12

As many as nine districts of Himachal on Friday received snow in the past 12 hours bringing an end to the prolonged dry spell.

While Shimla received rain in the night, the nearby hill stations like Kufri and Narkanda received 1 to 2 inches of snow.

Manali, too, received two inches of snow. Places, including Dharamsala and Chamba received rainfall.

Due to the snowall, 200 roads, including three National Highway are closed for traffic. The latest spell of snow and rain has affected electricity as well, with 487 DTR getting affected.

While the snowfall cut off the remote Dodra Kwar subdivision in Shimla district from the rest of the state, 177 reads in Lahaul and Spiti, five in Chamba, and two each in Kangra and Kullu were closed for vehicular traffic.

As news of the snowfall spread, tourists flocked to Shimla.

The snowfall has also brought cheers to hoteliers who are expecting a brisk business during the weekend.

The snowy landscape in Shimla, which recorded a low of 1.4 degrees Celsius, would stay for a day, an official of the Met Office said.

Reports said areas in Shimla districts like apple belt Jubbal and Kharapathar experienced snow.The Met Office has forecast that scattered rain or snow is likely in the state till Saturday.

After the opening of the skies, the minimum temperature across the state could plummet by three to four notches, the weatherman added.