Slight fall in mercury in Himachal, rains in store

The maximum temperature in the hills in Himachal Pradesh declined marginally on Friday, giving some relief from the scorching heat wave, an weatherman said.

The met department said there could be light rain or thundershowers in some parts of the state till June 1.

"Most of the towns saw a fall of the maximum temperature by one to one degrees. In the next few days it will decline further," Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office here, told IANS.

He said Shimla's maximum temperature was still four notches above the average. It saw a high of 27.5 degrees Celsius, a fall from Thursday's 28.5 degrees.

Una town was state's hottest place at 39.8 degrees Celsius.

Sundernagar in Mandi district recorded a high of 32.9 degrees Celsius while the maximum temperature in Bhuntar in Kullu district was 28.5 degrees Celsius, Dharamsala in Kangra district was 33.4 degrees Celsius and Kalpa in Kinnaur district was 30.2 degrees.