Snowfall disrupts normal life in Himachal, over 500 roads blocked

A fresh spell of snowfall in Himachal Pradesh has led to the closure of 518 roads in the state, officials said on Sunday. The orange warning for snowfall across Himachal Pradesh issued by the local weather office on Saturday evening has been changed to a yellow warning of thunderstorms, lightning and hail storms with heavy snow at isolated places on Sunday.

Officials said 161 roads have been closed in Shimla followed by 157 in Lahaul and Spiti, 71 in Kullu, 69 in Chamba and 46 in Mandi district. According to the state emergency operation centre, 478 transformers and 567 water supply schemes have been disrupted. Kalpa in Kinnaur received 5.6 mm of snow followed by Bharmaur 5 cm, Gondla 4.2 cm, Keylong 3 cm, Khadrala and Kufri 2 cm each, Kukumseri 1.6 cm and Sangla and Pooh 1 cm each. Jogindernagar received 13 mm of rains followed by Slapper 12.5 mm, Rohru 10 mm, Gohar 9 mm while Sarahan, Sujanpur Tira, Berthin, Nainadevi, Palampur, Seobagh, Shimla, Sundernagar, Dharamshala, Una, Solan received 5 to 7 mm of rains.

There was no significant change in the minimum and maximum temperatures and Kukumseri in Lahaul and Spiti was the coldest at night recording a low of minus 4.9 degrees C while Dhaulakuan was hottest during the day with a maximum temperature of 20.3 degrees C. Intermittent heavy rains have disrupted normal life in parts of Hamirpur district. However, farmers are happy as the rains are beneficial for Rabi crops that had been affected due to the prolonged dry spell in December and January.