Fresh snow in Dhauladhars hills, Bara Bhangal valley

Palampur, April 29

Heavy rain lashed the Kangra region today while the Dhauladhar hills and the Bara Bhangal valley received fresh snowfall. Residents took out their woollens as the temperature dipped to about 12°C this evening. While lower reaches of Kangra valley received light to heavy showers, some parts of the valley were hit by a hail storm damaging the standing crop.

“We have not experienced such low temperatures in April, especially the end of the month, in the region in our entire lives,” said Harikrishan Goel, a Palampur resident.

Dr Rajinder Prasad, retired agrometeorologist from the CSK Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur, said that heavy rain in the northern plains of India were due to the Western Disturbances. “For the past few years even the dry areas of Himachal Pradesh are experiencing heavy rain because of the changing climatic conditions,” he said.