Heavy snow in Shimla, Manali; tourists make merry

Bhanu Lohumi/ Dipender Manta
Tribune News Service
Shimla/Mandi, January 22

The Himachal Pradesh capital and picturesque Manali and Dalhousie on Tuesday witnessed more snow that snapped road links, however, tourists made merry by hurling snowballs at one another.

Shimla, Manali, Kufri, Narkanda are witnessing heavy snowfall since morning. Due to heavy snow, roads beyond Kufri are closed for vehicular traffic.

Met Director Manmohan Singh said that heavy snowfall will occur in Shimla, Kullu, Mandi, Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Chamba districts till Wednesday.

As news of the snowfall spread, tourists started flocking to this resort destination, known for the imperial grandeur of its buildings that were once institutions of power when the town served as the summer capital of British India.

Shimla, which saw a low of minus 0.7 degree Celsius, recorded more than five cm of snowfall, while Kufri and Mashobra recorded more than 20 cm of snowfall each.

The snowy landscape in Shimla will stay this way for two-three days, an official of the Met Office said.

Reports said some of the areas in Jubbal, Narkanda and Kharapathar also experienced snow, hampering road network.

The traffic on the Shimla- Chandigarh highway has also come to a standstill after snowfall at Shoghi.

“No traffic is moving towards Shimla from Shoghi after 1 pm as roads have closed after snowfall here also. I have no option other than to go back to Chandigarh,” said Kritima, who was coming to Shimla along with a friend.

Manali, which saw five cm of snow, experienced a low of minus 1.2 degrees Celsius. Its nearby hills like the Solang ski slopes, Kothi and Gulaba also saw snow.

Kalpa, 250 km from the state capital, and Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district experienced heavy spells of snow.

Lower areas of the state, including Dharamsala, Palampur, Solan, Nahan, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur and Mandi towns received moderate to heavy rain, bringing down the temperature considerably.

The snow has brought smiles to the faces of residents, especially those engaged with tourism industry and apple orchardists.

The hoteliers are pinning hope on good season as the tourist rush would continue till weekend.

The apple growers are also happy as snow is considered as white manure for the crop. Moreover, lower temperatures would provide required chilling hours to the apple trees.

The Shimla administration had made all arrangements to ensure that the vehicular traffic is not disrupted and snow-clearing machines have been deployed in shadow areas.  With inputs from IANS