AVALANCHE WARNING IN FIVE HP DISTRICTS

SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority on Wednesday issued an avalanche warning for five districts in the state.

Avalanches may occur in Kullu, Shimla, Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur and Chamba districts between 5pm on January 15 and 5pm on January 16, an official of said.

Meanwhile, slippery roads affected the traffic movement on NH-5, also known as Hindustan tibet Road, near Kufri, 14km from Shimla, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded.

Shimla SP Omapati Jamwal said, “Frequent traffic jams occur due to slippery roads.”

State meteorological department director Manmohan Singh said, “Due to a fresh western disturbance, light to moderate snowfall and rainfall are likely to occur at few places on January 16.”

Temperature was recorded at 2.1°C in Shimla, -2.4°C in Manali, -1.8°C in Kufri. minimum temperature in Dharamshala and Dalhousie was 4.4°C and 0.6°C. kalpa in Kinnaur shivered at -5.8°C while Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti remained coldest in the state at -8.2°C.

Shimla deputy commissioner Amit Kashyap said, “All main roads in the district have been opened for vehicular traffic and HRTC buses were plying to Rohru, Khadapathar, Chopal. Shimla-rampur Road via Narkanda has been restored for normal traffic.”

He said adequate machinery and manpower have been deployed on link roads to restore traffic movement .“Snow clearing operations are in full swing in Dodra Kwar subdivision to clear the blocked roads,” he added.