Narkanda, Manali and Kufri receive snowfall

Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 13

For the first time this winter, there has been a widespread precipitation in the state since Thursday night. While the higher reaches in as many as nine districts have received snowfall, most places in mid and lower hills received at least light showers. The weather department is expecting light to moderate snowfall at isolated places on Saturday in mid and high hills, while the areas in lower hills and plains are likely to have dry weather.

6 inch snow at Khajjiar

Dalhousie: The popular tourist destination, Khajjiar, witnessed six inches of snowfall on Thursday night while one feet of snow was recorded in Jot. Traffic on the roads at Khajjiar and Jot came to a standstill. A workforce of the PWD was deployed to remove snow from the road with the help of JCB machines. OC

Even as hill stations like Kufri and Narkanda received a few inches of snow, Shimla received light showers on Thursday night. Manali, too, has received light snow and rains. Other places like Dharamsala and Chamba witnessed rainfall.

Kothi in Kullu received 14 cm of snow followed by Khadrala and Shillaro with 10 cm and 7.5 cm each. Kufri and Gondla each got 4 cm of snow while Kalpa recorded 3 cm of snow.

The Jakhu hill in the capital town was covered under a thin layer of snow but intermittent rains washed it off.

Keylong in the tribal Lahaul and Spiti district recorded the lowest minimum temperature in the state at minus 6.3 degrees Celsius, followed by Narkanda at minus 2.8 degrees Celsius, Kalpa at minus 2.6 degrees Celsius, Kufri minus 1.2 degrees Celsius, Dalhousie minus 0.1 degrees Celsius.

Manali and Shimla shivered at 0.4 degrees Celsius and 1.4 degrees Celsius respectively.

The latest spell of snow and rain has left as many as 194 roads closed for vehicular traffic. Out of these 177 are in Lahaul and Spiti and 14 in Chamba. Electricity, too, has been disrupted as 148 distribution transformers have been affected. The most, 100, have been affected in Lahaul and Spiti, followed by Chamba with 48. The water supply schemes remained unaffected.

The precipitation, however, brought some cheer to the hospitality industry. As soon as the news of snowfall in Kufri and Narkanda spread, tourists rushed there to enjoy the snowfall. “Because of the lack of snowfall, we have not had many tourists at Kufri this season. We hope we will get a good snowfall over the next few days, which will bring in more tourists,” said Mohinder, a photographer at Kufri.

Meanwhile, the farmers and horticulturalists will also heave a sigh of relief in the wake of the latest precipitation. (With PTI inputs)

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