Shimla sees coldest night in 11 years, Manali 9 yrs

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 9

The state reeled under the freezing cold wave conditions. Shimla experienced the coldest night in 11 years with the mercury dipping to minus 3.7 degree while Manali was the coldest in nine years with minimum temperature sinking to minus 7.8 degree.

Earlier, Shimla had experienced the coldest night on January 24, 2008, with a low of minus 4.4 degree while Manali recorded the lowest temperature at minus 8 degree on January 17, 2011.

The state was limping back to normalcy but 1,034 roads, including five national highways, were closed due to heavy snow. A maximum number of 759 roads were closed in the Shimla zone followed by 179 in Mandi zone and 91 in Kangra zone while 259 roads were expected to be opened by tonight.

The minimum temperatures stayed four to seven degree below normal and the high-altitude tribal areas froze under arctic conditions with the mercury staying between minus 18 and minus 26 degree. Precipitation occurred at most places during the last 24 hours.

While the upper Shimla region and Kinnaur remained cut off for the fifth day, the Shimla-Kalka national highway was opened to traffic, however, slippery road conditions hindered the smooth traffic flow and the town remained without essential items like milk, bread, vegetables, etc.

The bright sunshine greeted the people after six days. The restoration work continued in full swing and the police worked overtime to rescue about 1,000 motorists stuck in heavy snow between Shoghi and ISBT, on last night.

The Shimla-Chandigarh road was opened but a large number of vehicles were stuck between Shoghi and Kachighati as vehicles skidded near the Shoghi barrier, Shoghi-Taradevi junction and Kachighati while four uprooted trees near the RTO and Cecil caused traffic jams.

The Shimla-Chandigarh road, Mehli-Shoghi Bypass and Bilaspur-Shimla road were opened to traffic. However, Naltu Nallah near Heera Nagar was the major bottleneck on the Bilaspur road, obstructing traffic, said SP Omawati Jamwal, adding that the vehicles were not allowed beyond the Victory Tunnel.

The roads were opened at Khara Pathar, Narkanda, Fagu and other vulnerable points but the commuters were advised not to travel due to slippery conditions. Roads to upper Shimla would be cleared tomorrow, said DC Amit Kashyap.

Water pipes froze and burst at several places in Shimla and adjoining areas and people melted snow to meet the water requirements. Thick ground frost made the roads slippery and frozen roads made the pedestrian movement risky.

Some areas in Shimla had remained without electricity for several hours as uprooted trees damaged the transmission lines but electricity was restored in the morning.

The HRTC started a trial run to Chandigarh and the first bus left the ISBT at 12:30 pm.

The occupancy in hotels has gone over 85 per cent and will further increase as the weekend is approaching, said president, Tourism Industry Stakeholders Association, MK Seth. There were about 54 hotels on Victory Tunnel-Lakkar Bazaar road who were feeling the pinch as no tourist could reach these hotels, he added.

In past 24 hours, Kufri recorded 58 cm of snow followed by Khadrala 56 cm, Theog 52 cm, Bijahi 45 cm, Sarahan 36 cm, Jubbal 31 cm, Shimla 27 cm, Banjar 25 cm, Kalpa 23 cm, Janjehli 20 cm, Mashobra16 cm, Kumarsen 15 cm Rohru and Rajgarh10 cm each.

Jatton Barrage received 47 mm of rain followed by Paonta Sahib 41 mm, Nahan 38 mm, Rampur 37 mm, Rajgarh 26 mm, Gohar and Dharamsala 25 mm each, Baldwara 23 mm, Solan 22 mm, Sangrah17 mm, Rajgarh16 mm, Jhandutta 15 mm, Pandoh and Karsog14 mm each, Arki, Bhuntar and Kheri 11 mm each.

Director, MeT office, Manmohan Singh has warned of heavy rainfall or snow in mid and higher hills on January 13 and predicted dry weather in the region tomorrow and another wet spell from January 12.

Keylong coldest at -14.6 degrees Celsius

The mercury went on a downward spiral across most of the state. The minimum temperature in Kinnaur's Kalpa was minus 9.1 degrees Celsius,

followed by Manali minus 7.8, Dalhousie minus 5.6, Kufri minus 5.2 and Shimla minus 3.7 degrees Celsius. The lowest temperature was recorded in Lahaul-Spiti district's administrative centre Keylong at minus 14.6 degrees Celsius

Don’t drive on Kufri road

The police have advised the commuters not to drive on Kufri and Mashobra roads as these are slippery.

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