M A I N   N E W S

Heavy snowfall, rain disrupt life in HP
NH-22 blocked
Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 3
Rain and snow lashed the entire state during the past 24 hours and similar weather conditions are likely to prevail for one more day.

According to the local Met office almost 71 cm of snowfall has been recorded at Dhundi in Kullu. Other places like Solang Nullah in Manali, Patsio in Lahaul Spiti and Bhang in Kullu have also been experiencing heavy snowfall.

Being one of the coldest days of this winter, the minimum temperature in Shimla was recorded at 1.2ºC. Dhundi and Patsio recorded minimum temperatures of -10.5ºC, Mashobra 0.5ºC, Dharamsala 5.2ºC, Bhuntar 5.3ºC, and Sundernagar 7.1ºC.

Western disturbance build up over Jammu and Kashmir and the adjoining Chamba area of Himachal Pradesh continued and there is possibility of more rain and snowfall during the next 24 hours.

RECKONG PEO: Continuous snowfall in the middle and upper regions of Kinnaur district and Spiti valley for the past 48 hours kept this tribal belt out of bounds and has affected normal life here.

The National Highway-22 and all link roads remained blocked at various places in Kinnaur district throughout the day, today. Bus service from the district headquarter, Reckong Peo, have remained suspended since last night. This information was given by Devinder Negi, in-charge of Himachal Pradesh Roadways Depot here. efforts had been made to send two buses to Chandigarh and Shimla, respectively, with 15 passengers each, but the buses got stuck between Puari and Tapri, about 10 km from here.

Bus service to Kalpa, Pooh and other upper areas of Kinnaur district and Kaza in Spiti valley had also been suspended from Reckong Peo following reports of heavy snowfall there.

The Sangla valley which has been experiencing continuous snowfall remained cut-off from the rest of the country for the second consecutive day today. There were also reports of squalls of 40 to 50 km per hour velocity, accompanied by hailstorm, lashing the region during the past 24 hours. There were also reports of disruption of both mobile and landline telephone networks in Kinnaur and Spiti valley.

Power and water supply was also badly hit in most parts of this tribal belt. People were forced to stay inside their houses in the upper areas of Kinnaur and Spiti valley.

On the other hand, the season’s first snowfall in the cultivable terrains of Kinnaur has brought good news for the farmers as horticultural experts say that this snowfall will prove to be beneficial for the apple crop.

Mr K.D. Verma, District Food and Supplies Controller, told The Tribune that they had got enough reserves of all essential/controlled commodities.

Meanwhile, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) personnel are clearing the NH-22 which had been blocked at many places due to landslides caused by heavy snowfall in the district.

According to a UNI report from Shimla the 13,050 feet-high Rohtang Pass, has been closed as the region has received over a foot of snowfall since last night.

Kothi, the last village of Kulu district towards Rohtang Pass, had also recorded 10 inches of snowfall and vehicular traffic beyond the village was disrupted.

Several tourist vehicles were stranded at Gulaba and Kothi on the Manali-Leh road. Pangi and Bharmour areas in Chamba district had received over one foot and three feet of snowfall until 4 p.m today.

Power and water supply to several areas of the district was also disrupted due to heavy snowfall, making people shiver in extreme cold. Cool icy winds blew across the higher reaches of Bharmour valley, Mandi and Bakrota in Dalhouise hills, Chhuharu Jot and Saach Pass, and the day temperatures fell considerably in the district. Chehni Pass in Tissa sector and Kugti Pass in Bharmour were also experiencing snowfall.

The key tourist places of Kufri, Wild Flower Hall, Narkanda, Khara Pathar, Mashobra and Jakhu Peak of the Shimla town also received snowfall.

Narkanda recorded 14 inches of snowfall and Kufri received 12 inches of snowfall.

Intermittent showers lashed Shimla and its adjoining areas today morning and markets in the town wore a deserted look, with locals and tourists preferring to stay indoors.

The town had received over 20.3 mm rainfall in the past 24 hours with Sundernagar in Mandi district and Bhuntar in Kulu district recording 17 mm rainfall each.

CHANDIGARH: Many areas in the region were enveloped in a blanket of thick fog. Both the Indian Airlines and Jet Airways flights to Chandigarh were cancelled due to bad weather in the union territory.

Visibility was reduced to zero at Adampur, Halwara and Sirsa and up to 200 meters at Ambala, 450 meters at Palam in Delhi and 500 meters each at Sarsawa and Hindon due to fog.

Dense fog adversely affected the train traffic on the busy Delhi-Amritsar and Delhi-Jammu routes with long distance trains running several hours behind the schedule.

Ambala, Hisar, Delhi, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Balachaur, also had rain.

The Met office predicted light to moderate rain or thundershowers at a few places in Haryana and Punjab.