Snow continues in Himachal, affects traffic movement

Moderate to heavy snowfall continued in Himachal Pradesh for the second day Sunday, hampering the movement of traffic on most of the roads, especially in upper Shimla and Manali area.

The government advised people not to venture to the higher reaches over the next 12 hours.

The entire Kinnaur district and towns in Shimla district such as Narkanda, Jubbal, Kotkhai, Kumarsain, Kharapathar, Rohru and Chopal have been cut off from the rest of the state, a government official told IANS.

The Chandigarh-Manali National Highway 21 has been closed for vehicles near Patlikuhl, 20 km before Manali, the official said.

Likewise, vehicular movement beyond Dhalli, 10 km from here, remained suspended since a large stretch of the Hindustan-Tibet Road was under a thick blanket of snow.

Officials said the road network in the higher reaches of Kinnaur, Shimla, Chamba, Kullu and Sirmaur districts was worst affected and efforts were being made to reopen it.

For Rampur and Kinnaur, buses from the state capital were plying via Dhami and Basantpur.

An official said even the snow-bound areas near the tourist resort of Manali such as Solang, Beas Kund, Nehru Kund, Gulaba and Marhi have been declared out-of-bounds for tourists.