Tourists throng Shimla after snowfall

Shimla has a tradition of being snowed under around the new year or Christmas. Last year, it had received the season’s first snowfall on January 6, but this year it was much delayed.

Tourists thronged Shimla and Kufri soon after hearing about the season’s first snowfall. The snow also spread cheer among the tourist operators and farmers, who had been worried about the long dry spell.

Snow-covered pine trees in Shimla on Wednesday. (Deepak Sansta/HT)

Tuesday’s snowfall, the first in Shimla and second in the higher reaches of Kullu, Kinnaur, brought smiles to all.

Shimla has a tradition of being snowed under around the new year or Christmas. Last year, it had received the season’s first snowfall on January 6, but this year it was much delayed.

But the snow-covered roads in the state capital threw normal life out of gear. Traffic on all link roads came to a grinding halt this morning, and people had to walk to their offices. The much awaited snowfall has blocked around 200 roads across the state besides damaging some water supply pipes. Several parts of the state, including Shimla, struggled with power outage last night.

People make their way a white Shimla on Wednesday.

The government has directed the public works department to clear all roads. The National highway connecting Shimla to Kinnaur was blocked at various points between Shimla and Kinnaur.

The Shimla meteorological centre has predicted dry weather for the next four to five days. “We expect a feeble western disturbance on January 29,” said Shimla Met centre director Manmohan Singh. He said the night temperature will remain low for the next few days due to the snowcapped mountains.