Heavy snow cripples life in Himachal
SHIMLA/DHARAMSHALA : A heavy spell of snow threw life out of gear in high altitude areas of Himachal Pradesh on Friday. The snowfall snapped road connectivity, electricity and communication lines across Shimla, Kullu, Kinnaur and Lahaul Spiti districts, while Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses remained stranded.
Shimla was covered in a thick blanket of 36cm snow and 55cm snow at Kufri. Narkanda experienced 55cm of snow, Manali 35cm, Keylong 55cm snow. Traffic was also disrupted on Shimla-Kalka national highway on Friday. Milk and newspaper supply in town was delayed as trucks carrying essential commodities did not ply beyond Taradevi due to slippery roads. Thunderstorm lashed Shimla town in last 12 hours impacting electricity supply. The temperature in Shimla fell to -2.4 °C on Thursday night.
Many areas of the town including Brockhurst, Jakhu, US Club and Khalini were also affected.
Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Friday chaired a highlevel meeting of officials to review the situation in the state due to heavy snowfall.The government released ₹35.17 crore for ensuring restoration of essential services.
Snowfall affected as many as 1,093 roads and 415 water supply schemes in the state. Water supply lines in Mandi, Chamba and Shimla districts were also damaged. As many as 120 water supply schemes in Mandi district, 60 in Kinnaur district, 89 in Chamba district, five in Kangra, 43 in Kullu and 25 in Rohru circle have been affected.The CM said that most of these will be restored by Friday evening and the remaining within a day. He has directed the state electricity board authorities to ensure that the power supply in other parts of the state are restored.
The upper regions of Shimla district were completely cut off owing to heavy snowfall in Kaharpathar. The strategic Hindustan-Tibet road was closed for traffic beyond Sanjauli. The district administration on Friday put in place machines to clear roads in Shimla town.
The snowfall brought cheers for farmers. “The snowfall is beneficial for the farmers particularly in the lower regions. It will help in fulfilling the required conditions for apple crop,” said Lokinder Singh, farmer and president of Progressive Apple growers. Higher and middle hills in Kangra and Chamba districts experienced a fresh spell of snow while low lying areas were lashed by rains, thunderstorm and squall. Dharamshala town received a mild spell of snow around midnight after a gap of seven years while McLeodganj also witnessed 4 to 5cm snow.
45 PASSENGERS RESCUED
A police team rescued 45 passengers stranded in two buses stuck in snow at Tarapur on MashobraSunni road in Shimla district on Thursday night. SSP Omapati Jamwal said the rescue operation continued till 3.30 am on Friday. The buses were enroute Shimla to Rekongpeo via Basantpur.
SNOW TRIGGERS AVALANCHE IN KINNAUR, LAHAUL SPITI
Snowfall in higher altitude regions triggered avalanches in different places in Lahaul Spiti , Kinnaur and Chamba district. Avalanches in Chilling nullah obstructed the course of Bhaga river, a tributary of Beas.Incident of avalanche took place in Gondla on Friday morning.
“The mahila mandal bhawan building was damaged in the avalanche and four Nepalese were trapped inside a hut,” an official of state disaster management authority said. All four persons were later evacuated safely.
Two vehicles were buried in an avalanche at Goddla on the Keylong-Manali road.An avalanche occurred in Kaza’s Rangrik nullah that blocked the national highway. There was no report of loss of life. Two separate avalanches were triggered by snow in chilling and Peuker nullah.
SNOW IN MANDI TOWN AFTER 28 YEARS
Torrential rains for more than 24 hours and snowfall in Mandi district resulted in blockage of connecting roads including Chandigarh-Manali national highway on various points between Mandi town and Kullu on Thursday night. Mandi town witnessed light snowfall whereas higher reaches of the district experienced heavy snowfall for the third time in a week on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. Mandi town experienced snowfall after 28 years.
The Mandi-Pathankot highway also remained partially blocked and was restored on Friday.