Highways opened, 603 link roads still closed in Himachal

Bhanu P Lohumi

Shimla, February 5

The state is limping back to normalcy with major highways opened to vehicular traffic. The supply of essential commodities was hit due to the closure of roads in the city.

However, the interior areas were still cut off as 603 roads, including 205 in Shimla, 122 in Lahaul and Spiti, 96 in Kullu, 77 in Chamba, 68 in Mandi, 17 in Sirmaur, 11 in Kinnaur and seven in Solan, were closed following heavy snow.

The power supply was affected in several parts of the state. It was erratic in Shimla while the snowbound rural areas were the worst hit with 1,631 transformers were non-functional and 138 water supply schemes were disrupted.

Kufri received 60 cm of snow in the past 24 hours followed by Chopal 46 cm, Bijahi 35 cm, Shimla 33 cm, Janjehli 20 cm, Dalhousie, Shillaroo and Khadrala 15 cm each, Bharmour and Gondla 12 cm each and Jubbal 11 cm. However, no snowfall was reported since this morning.

Tinder was the wettest in the region with 31 mm of rain followed by Jhandutta 30 mm, Banjar 29 mm, Jubbarhatti 26 mm, Jatton Barrage and Solan 25 mm each, Nahan 24 mm, Arki 22 mm, Gohar 19 mm, Pandoh, Kandaghat and Dharmpur 17 mm each, Karsog, Rohru and Paonta Sahib 16 mm each and Bajura 15 mm.

Shimla-Chandigarh, Shimla-Narkanda, Shimla-Rohru roads are open for vehicular traffic. As many as 76 JCBs, nine robots and 12 dozers were pushed into road-clearing operations in the district. Heavy snowfall hampered road clearing operations yesterday.

However, all major roads and roads leading to hospitals in Shimla were cleared but link roads were still closed, said Deputy Commissioner Aditya Negi, adding that Volvo buses were also plying. He advised commuters to avoid driving at night hours due to slippery road conditions.

With a large number of tourists leaving and coming to Shimla, the occupancy in hotels remained between 70 and 80 per cent, said president, Tourism Industry Stakeholders Association, MK Seth. Several tourists were stuck as link roads were yet to open. Tourists were also stranded in snow-bound areas like Chail Koti as slippery road conditions are making driving risky. Keylong was the coldest at night with minus 12.5 degree. The region had a clear day in the morning but sky was partially overcast as the day advanced.

The local Met office has predicted rain and snow in the middle and high hill for four days as a fresh feeble western disturbance is likely to affect western Himalayan region from February 6 while another western disturbance is likely to affect Northwest India from February 8.