NH-5 remains blocked due to landslides in Himachal
SHIMLA: National Highway 5 in Himachal Pradesh remained blocked on Thursday due to landslides caused by fresh snowfall and rain, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded, officials said.
The highway, which connects Ferozepur in Punjab to the Sinoindia border at Shipki La, was blocked on Wednesday night after snowfall in Kinnaur district. The snow was cleared but the highway could not be reopened as a bridge in Kinnaur’s
Urni village was damaged due to landslides, the officials said.
Besides, a tree fell on the highway at Kingal village in Shimla’s Narkanda tehsil, they said.
Hundreds of vehicles are stranded on both sides of the road in Shimla and Kinnaur districts, according to the officials.
Earlier in the day, traffic in Narkanda and Kharapathar was also blocked. However, traffic flow was restored later, they said. The snowfall and rain caused the mercury to drop a few notches. Gondla received the highest snowfall in the state in the last 24 hours at 45 cm; followed by 20 cm in Kalpa; 15 cm each in Kothi, Keylong and Khadrala; 12 cm in Udaipur; 10 cm in Kufri; 5 cm each in Pooh and Bharmour, Shimla Meteorological Centre Director Manmohan Singh said.
Tribal district Lahaul-spiti’s administrative centre Keylong continued to be the coldest place in the state with a minimum temperature of minus 2.8 degrees Celsius, Singh said. Nahan recorded the highest temperature at 21.7 degrees Celsius.