Shimla
Four national highways (NH) and 110 main and lateral roads connecting villages and towns in four districts of Himachal Pradesh were cut off due to snowfall on Friday.
More than 200 vehicles were stranded after intermittent snowfall in Shimla, Kinnaur, Chamba and Sirmaur districts threw life out of gear.
NH-305 connecting Sainj to Luhri and NH-505 from Powari to Reckong Peo were closed for traffic. NH-22, also known as the old Hindustan-Tibet road, was closed beyond Kufri, while the stretch between Theogh and Hatkoti on NH-705 was shut after heavy snowfall at Kharapathar.
“Efforts are on to clear these roads. We are hopeful that traffic will resume by Friday evening provided it does not snow heavily again,” said public works department chief engineer RK Verma.
Bus service to Rampur Bushar has been diverted via Basantpur.
Scores of roads have also been closed in Lahaul and Spiti in Chamba district.
MERCURY DIPS, KEYLONG COLDEST AT -3.3 degrees
Kalpa in Kinnaur district received 23 cm of snowfall, while Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district got 12.5 cm of snowfall. Manali in Kullu district received 12 cm of snowfall. Kufri, Kharapathar, Narkanda and Khadrala in Shimla district also got snow.
State meteorological department director Manmohan Singh said, “Snow and rain will continue throughout the state till Saturday and in middle and higher hills of the state till Sunday after which the weather will remain dry.”
Minimum temperatures were one to two degrees below normal. The low in Shimla, Manali, Dalhousie and Dharamshala were 1.9, -1.6, -1.5 and 2.6 degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperatures were 5.9, 4.2, 3 and 9.4 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The minimum temperature in Kufri, an tourist spot near Shimla, was -2.6 degrees and the maximum was zero. The minimum and maximum temperatures in Kalpa were -1.2 degrees and 0.8 degree Celsius.
The lowest temperature in Himachal was -3.3 degrees, recorded in Keylong, while the highest temperature in the state was 18 degrees Celsius at Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur district.
