Light snowfall followed by rain and sleet brought cheer to tourists in Shimla on Friday but forced the closure of over 200 roads in the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh.
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While snowfall cut off the remote Dodra Kwar sub division in Shimla district from the rest of the state, 177 roads in Lahaul and Spiti, five in Chamba, and two each in Kangra and Kullu were closed for traffic. Rohtang Pass in Kullu district got around two feet of snowfall, while 12 inches of snow was accumulated at the South Portal of Atal Tunnel, cutting off the link to Lahaul-Spiti district.
Isolated parts of Shimla, Kangra, Kullu, Chamba and Lahaul and Spiti districts witnessed light snowfall. Kothi in Kullu received 14cm of snow followed by Khadrala and Shillaro with 10 and 7.5cm each. Kufri and Gondla each received 4cm of snow, while Kalpa recorded 3cm of snowfall.
Jakhu Hill in Shimla was covered under a thin layer of snow but intermittent rain washed it off.
{{/usCountry}}Jakhu Hill in Shimla was covered under a thin layer of snow but intermittent rain washed it off.
{{/usCountry}}Chanshal Pass in Shimla district got 10 inches of snow and the remote Dodra-Kwar village 2 inches of snowfall. Churdhar peak got nine inches of snowfall.
Bara-Bhangal, the remotest village in Kangra, got 10 inches of snowfall, while the trekkers’ destination Triund got 3 inches of snow.
487 transformers malfunctioned
State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) director Sudesh Kumar Mokhta said 200 roads, including three national highways, were blocked due to the snowfall.
As many as 487 transformers had malfunctioned in remote parts of the state, causing a power breakdown. Of them, 180 were affected in Mandi district alone, 145 in Kinnaur, 100 in Spiti division and 62 in Chamba.
Besides snowfall in the higher reaches, scattered rains were reported in some pockets. Chamba was the wettest place with 13.5mm rainfall, Dharamshala and Jubberhatti got 8.4mm each, Kangra 8mm, Palampur 6mm, Bhunter 4.7mm and Manali 4mm.
The weather office has forecast scattered rains on Friday and Saturday as well.
Prolonged dry spell in plains
The prolonged dry spell in the state has resulted in up to 25% loss to wheat crop and vegetable cultivation in rain-fed areas that constitute 75% of the total cultivable land in Himachal Pradesh as the state recorded almost 100% deficit rain in December. With isolated rain and snow in some places, the rain deficit from January 1 to 12 has been reduced to 76% as the region received 4.9mm average rains against the normal rainfall of 22.9 mm.
Kamaljeet Singh, a farmer in Una, said: “If it doesn’t rain properly for a few more days, the rabi crop will be damaged.”
Though it snowed in the higher reaches, apple growers in the middle and lower heights are still bearing the brunt of a drought-like situation.
Mercury dips in state
Keylong in tribal Lahaul and Spiti district recorded the lowest minimum temperature in the state at -6.3 degrees Celsius, followed by Narkanda at -2.8 degrees, Kalpa at -2.6, Kufri -1.2, and Dalhousie -0.1 degree Celsius.
Manali and Shimla recorded a low of 0.4 and 1.4 degrees Celsius, respectively.
With inputs by Naresh Thakur in Dharamshala