FRESH SNOWFALL BLOCKS 72 ROADS ACROSS HIMACHAL

SHIMLA: Fresh snowfall has kept at least 72 roads across Himachal Pradesh blocked for the second consecutive week, while only about a quarter of the over 100 roads that remained dysfunctional through the last week have been opened for vehicles, officials said on Tuesday.

Sixty one roads in Lahaul and Spiti, five in Kullu including the Rohtang Pass route, three in Kangra, two in Chamba and one in Sirmaur districts are still closed for traffic, they said.

With the minimum temperature dipping, nights have become colder. Kukumseri in the tribal Lahaul and Spiti was the coldest, recording a low of minus 3.5 degrees Celsius, followed by Keylong at minus 3.2 deg C, while Kalpa saw a minimum of 0.8 deg C.

The key tourist resorts in Manali, Narkanda, Shimla, Dalhousie and Dharamshala registered a minimum of 3.2 deg C, 5.8 deg C, 7.6 deg C, 7.7 deg C and 10.2 deg C, respectively. The local meteorological office has predicted dry weather in the region for the next five days.