Reckong Peo, February 15
The piercing cold wave gripping the middle and upper hill areas of Kinnaur district and the adjoining Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh continued unabated on the second day today as the upper hill areas of the entire tribal belt experienced intermittent snowfall since Monday night.
As a result, most of the areas of this twin tribal belt of Kinnaur and Spiti valley were lashed by strong icy winds accompanied by snowflakes and drizzle.
The intense cold wave conditions have brought a sharp fall in the maximum and minimum temperatures as against the sudden rise in temperatures during the past three weeks.
People in the higher hills shivered under sub-zero temperatures. The minimum temperature in Kalpa and other middle-hill areas hovered around the freezing point, revealed an official of the Meteorological Department.
Reckong Peo, the district headquarters of Kinnaur, had recorded the minimum temperature at 2.5°C while Pooh reeled under severe cold wave with the mercury dipping to minus 1.5°C.
The highest peak of the region Kinner Kailash (19,200 feet) has during the past couple of days recorded about 20 cm snowfall and it is continuing.
Power supply was disrupted in Reckong Peo for more than eight hours following damage to power supply lines triggered by landslides near Tapri. However, there were reports of blockades on the Hindustan-Tibet road between Rampur and Reckong Peo due to landslides.
A senior official of the General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF) said his engineers and men were well prepared to face any situation to keep the Hindustan-Tibet road open. Extra manpower equipped with machinery had been deployed on a few vulnerable points at Pagal Nullah, Powari and near Tapri, the official added.
Meanwhile, an avalanche threat loomed on the entire tribal belt and other higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh which experienced moderate snowfall today while the mid-hills in Kulu, Kangra, Mandi and Chamba had moderate to heavy rains today, breaking a six-week dry spell.
The avalanche threat was mainly because of unusually high temperatures in high altitude tribal areas which could hasten melting of glaciers. People living in Keylong, Udaipur, Pangi and Pin valley have been asked to avoid outdoor movement to avert any mishap.
The Lahaul valley experienced 20cm of snow while 24 cm of snow was recorded at Patseo, 30cm at Dhundi and 10cm at Kalpa.
The higher hills of Chamba district, including Pangi and Bharmaur areas, had fresh snowfall while Chamba town and its adjoining areas were hit by a hailstorm followed by widespread heavy rains, triggering landslides and disrupting vehicular traffic on the Chamba-Satrundi and Chamba-Bairagarh roads.
Bhuntar in Kulu district had 10.4 mm of rain while Manali and Bhang recorded 21 mm. The Kangra, Dharamsala and Palampur areas of
district were also lashed by intermittent showers while the mighty Dhauladhar ranges and Rohtang Pass (10,050 ft) had moderate snowfall.
The temple town of Mandi and its surrounding areas were lashed by a hailstorm followed by rains uprooting trees and blowing away roofs of kutcha houses at some places. The storm brought normal life to a
halt and vehicular traffic was also badly hit. The storm is considered harmful for stone fruit crop which is in the flowering stage.
Meanwhile, the minimum temperatures remained four to eight
degrees above normal in the region and the thin layers of snow did not last and melted away. Lahaul valley which reeled under sub-zero temperatures of 12°C and most of the roads within the tribal valleys which remained closed till mid-April were opened.
There had been a shortfall of 54 per cent in average rainfall during the first fortnight of February and only Kulu and Chamba district had 38 and 12 per cent more rains than normal.
