Heavy snowfall closes Himachal roads

Highways and roads in many parts of Himachal Pradesh were blocked after moderate to heavy snowfall since early Friday, officials said.

The picturesque tourist resort Manali, Manikaran, known for a Sikh shrine, and Banjar area in Kullu district have been cut off after snow piled on roads, an official here told IANS.

Connectivity on the Kullu-Manali national highway was snapped at Kullu, some 40 km before Manali, which also experienced snow.

Most of the internal roads in Kinnaur district are cut off due to snow, he said.

Even traffic bound for towns in Shimla district such as Narkanda, Jubbal, Kotkhai, Kharapathar and Chopal has been hampered.

According to the weather office here, heavy snow and rain will continue till Saturday.

Tourist destination Narkanda experienced snowfall while rain lashed Shimla, which recorded a low of 4.2 degrees Celsius.

Manali and nearby Solang ski slopes experienced more than two feet of snow.

The minimum temperature in Manali was minus 1.4 degree Celsius, the weather office here said. Bhuntar in Kullu district saw 48.4 mm rain.

The town of Kalpa in Kinnaur, around 250 km from here, experienced 15.2 cm of snow and recorded a low of minus 2.8 degrees Celsius.

People have been advised to stay indoors in Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur districts and not to go through avalanche-prone areas.

Keylong, headquarters of Lahaul-Spiti, saw more than one feet of snow.

Rain lashed lower areas of the state such as Dharamsala, Palampur, Solan, Nahan, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur and Mandi, pulling down temperatures.