First burst: Shimla dons white mantle, mercury plummets
Tourists throng Himachal hill stations; in J&K, Mughal Road remains closed due to snow
SHIMLA : After much delay, The Queen of Hills Shimla on Sunday experienced snowfall, leading to a surge of tourists out to enjoy the snow-covered landscape.
The capital recorded eight centimetres of snowfall in the afternoon that hit traffic on the main circular road.
District administration had deployed the bulldozers to clear snow off the roads. “All arrangements are in place and the administration has already sounded alert,” Shimla deputy commissioner Amit Kashyap said. Shimla recorded a minimum temperature of 1.7° C with dry weather forecast for Monday, said MET centre director Manmohan Singh.
Snow in Shimla has brought cheer among the hospitality industry. “It is a good news for us as more tourist will visit Shimla in the coming days,” said Shimla Hotels and Restaurateurs association vice-president Prince Kukreja.
HIMACHAL REELS UNDER COLD WAVE
The snowfall which began on Sunday morning continued in most parts of the state albeit intermittently through the morning, leading to closure of most the arterial and the National Highway 5. Snow snapped electricity transmission lines in the state with localities reeling under power outages of more than 5 hours.
The tribal district Lahaul and Spiti’s administrative centre Keylong experienced one feet of snowfall with minimum temperature at -8.7°C while Kalpa in Kinnaur district experienced 4cm of fresh snow, recording a minimum temperature of -3.8°C.
Manali received 22cm snowfall while Kothi on the foothills of Rohtang experienced 70cm snowfall, said MET Centre.
Kangra and Chamba districts also reeled under bone-chilling cold as severe weather conditions swept over the region.
The upper reaches including the Dhauladhar in Kangra and Pir-panjal in Chamba also wore white blanket. The Triund hill top camping has received twothree feet snow. Dharamkot and Naddi village overlooking Dharamshala also received fresh bout of snow on Sunday.
According to a Met department official, Kufri recorded -3° C, Manali 1.2° C and Dalhousie -1.6° C, Dharamshala 2.1° C Palampur and 3.5°C. The temperature at other places of Himachal was recorded as 6.6° C in Sundernagar, 5° C in Bhuntar, 2.5° C in Solan, 5.3° C in Mandi and 6.2° C in Chamba.
JAMMU-SRINAGAR HIGHWAY REOPENS
JAMMU/SRINAGAR: After remaining closed for almost a day owing to heavy snowfall, the 294km Jammu-srinagar national highway, valley’s key surface link with the rest of the country, was partially restored for vehicular movement on Sunday.
Snowfall coupled with heavy downpour since Friday has caused slippery road conditions on the highway leaving over 600 odd vehicles stranded at several locations.
One-way traffic from Jammu towards the Valley was allowed in view of the improved weather conditions and after clearing the snow on the road, official said.
More than two feet of snow has accumulated on both sides of Jawahar Tunnel-key link between Jammu and Srinagar regions, resulting in foggy and slippery road conditions.
“The snow was cleared from Jawahar tunnel area on late Saturday afternoon and the vehicles stranded at Banihal area and on the other side of the tunnel were cleared,” a traffic official said.
The flight operations at Srinagar airport were also restored on Sunday, after two days of being affected due to snowfall, officials said. Meanwhile, the Mughal Road which connects Jammu’s Poonch and Rajouri districts with south Kashmir’s Shopian district and Srinagarkargil road, continue to remain closed due to snow accumulation.