441 roads, including 5 national highways, blocked in Himachal Pradesh; snow cuts off Lahaul from state

Tribune News Service

Mandi, March 2

Heavy snowfall crippled normal life in tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti and Kullu district today. Several roads were blocked to traffic in both districts. Due to heavy snow in Manali and the Lahaul region since last evening, the Manali-Leh highway has been blocked to traffic between Manali and Keylong via the Atal Tunnel. As a result, the residents of the Lahaul valley were cut off from the rest of the state.

A house was damaged in the Lahaul valley due to heavy snow, while five vehicles were buried due to an avalanche near Nehru Kund on the Manali-Leh highway.

441 roads, including five national highways, blocked

• Snowfall in the higher reaches of Himachal crippled daily life in Lahaul & Spiti and Kinnaur districts and rendered 441 roads, including five national highways, inaccessible
• The Met office in Shimla has issued a ‘red warning’ for Saturday with prediction of thunderstorms with lightning, hailstorm and heavy rain at isolated places accompanied by gusty winds reaching speeds of 40-50 km per hour
• The remote Dodra Kwar subdivision of Shimla district has been cut off from the rest of the state with the Shimla-Kinnaur Road blocked near Negulsari due to shooting stones. The heavy snowfall has also led to the closure of the Rohtang Pass
• Snow and rain across the state will continue till Sunday. The weather will remain dry in the plains, the low and mid hills during March 4-5 while snow and rainfall will continue in the higher reaches, said Shimla Meteorological Centre Director Surender Paul
• Kalpa was the coldest place in the state as it recorded minus 2.1°C minimum temperature, while Dhaula Kuan in Sirmaur district was the hottest with 23.7°C maximum temperature

In Lahaul and Spiti, 292 roads were blocked, including two national highways. In Lahaul subdivision, 86 roads were blocked, while 48 roads in Udaipur subdivision and 156 roads in Spiti were blocked. Besides, the Sumdo-Kaza-Gramphu and Manali-Leh highways were blocked.

According to official sources, a house was damaged at Salpat village in Udaipur subdivision due to heavy snowfall. Due to accumulation of heavy snow, the roof of the house was damaged badly. However, no one was injured in the incident.

Large parts of Lahaul and Spiti have been reeling under darkness due to damage to power supply cables in the district. Traffic has become standstill in the entire district. Power supply was partially restored at Keylong by the HP State Electricity Board this evening.

"In Kaza, a jeep carrying examination papers skidded off the road. A few persons were travelling in it. A police team from Kaza swung into action and rescued the occupants of the vehicle. No one was injured in the incident. The Kaza police team rescued a girl student stuck at Khurik village because of heavy snowfall,” an official said.

Lahaul and Spiti Deputy Commissioner Rahul Kumar said all roads were blocked in the district and traffic movement was at a standstill. Power supply was also affected adversely as snow damaged supply cables and infrastructure in the district. However, power supply was partially restored in Keylong in the evening.

In Manali, five vehicles were damaged badly when an avalanche hit them near Nehru Kund on the Manali-Leh highway. No one was inside the vehicles at the time of the incident.

Due to heavy rain in Kullu, the Sarvari water stream was inundated and water entered a parking lot and some sheds of migrant labourers situated in its vicinity. As many as 17 roads were blocked in Kullu district, including the Aut-Luhri highway. The Manikaran road was also blocked due to a landslide in the area.

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