Shimla, Manali turn white again; tourists make merry

Popular tourist destinations Shimla, Manali and Dalhousie received another spell of overnight snowfall on Sunday, which snapped internal road links in some areas of Himachal Pradesh but tourists made merry by hurling snowballs at one another.

Hoteliers cheered in the hope that more tourists will come in large numbers in the coming days even as the Met Office forecast dry weather from Monday.

Tourist spots near Shimla, such as Kufri, Chail, Fagu and Narkanda also experienced mild snowfall, making the hill stations even more picturesque.

Likewise, Manali and its uphill Solang ski slopes and Kalpa, 250 km from the state capital, saw snowfall.

Dalhousie in Chamba district saw 30 cm of snow, state's highest.

Meteorological office director Manmohan Singh told IANS that snowfall occurred in Shimla, Kullu, Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Chamba districts.

"The higher reaches have experienced moderate to heavy snowfall, while lower hills were lashed with rain," he said.

The minimum temperature in Shimla was recorded at 0.2 degree Celsius, whereas Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district was the coldest place in the state at minus 11 degree. Shimla and Keylong saw 3.5 cm and nine cm of snow, respectively.

It was 2.2 degrees Celsius in Dharamsala, minus 4.8 degree Celsius in Kalpa and minus 1.6 degree Celsius in Manali.

Tourists in Shimla, known for the imperial grandeur of its buildings that were once institutions of power when the town served as the summer capital of British India, were seen making merry by hurling snowballs at one another.

"For the first time we have seen snowfall," said Nitika Sodhi, a tourist from Chandigarh, who was in Shimla along with her friends.

The snowy landscape in Shimla will stay for one-two days, an official of the Met Office said.

--IANS

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