Intense cold wave sweeps Himachal after snowfall

An intense cold wave left Himachal Pradesh reeling Monday with Manali recording a biting minus two degrees Celsius, a couple of days after the state received rains and snowfall.

The state capital Shimla, which received 29.3 cm of snowfall since Sunday, experienced its coldest night at 0.9 degree Celsius. Vehicular traffic remained disrupted for the second day in upper Shimla and also between Kullu and Manali.

Water in taps in residential areas located in Shimla's US Club and Jakhu hills remained frozen due to the extreme cold.

The district administration has declared closure of all educational institutes in Shimla for two days from Monday.

Popular tourist spots near Shimla like Kufri and Narkanda received good spells of snow in the past two days. The tourist resort Kasauli in Solan district also received mild snowfall.

The Rohtang Pass (13,050 feet) and the Baralacha Pass (16,020 ft) - located on the Manali-Leh highway - witnessed heavy snowfall as well.

The resort town of Kalpa recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.2 degrees Celsius, while it was 0.4 degree in Dalhousie and 5.9 degrees Celsius below the freezing point in Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district.

Weather officials said the high hills of Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, Kullu and Chamba districts witnessed heavy snowfall in the past two days.

A government spokesperson said the entire Kinnaur district and towns in Shimla district such as Narkanda, Jubbal, Kotkhai, Kumarsain, Kharapathar, Rohru and Chopal were cut off from the rest of the state.

Connectivity on the Kullu-Manali National Highway 21 remained snapped near Patlikuhl, some 20 km before Manali, officials said.

--Indo-Asian news Service

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