Tourists flock to Shimla for snow

This Himachal Pradesh capital witnessed the season's heaviest snowfall Saturday. Transportation links were snapped but revellers made merry.

"Shimla and its nearby areas have been experiencing snowfall since early Saturday," an official of the meteorological department told IANS.

Nearby places like Kufri and Narkanda have also experienced snowfall, turning the destinations more picturesque.

As news of the snowfall spread, tourists from the plains flocked to this resort destination, known for the imperial grandeur of buildings that were once institutions of power when the town served as the summer capital of British India.

"We really enjoyed hurling snowballs at each other," said Neha Dhingra, a tourist from Chandigarh, who was in Shimla along with her friends.

Shimla, which saw a low of 0.0 degree Celsius, recorded 15 cm snow, while Mashobra and Theog towns recorded 22 and 25 cm snow, respectively.

The snowy landscape will stay this way for about four days, an official of the Met office said.

Reports said some of the areas in Jubbal, Narkanda and Kotkhai in upper Shimla experienced up to three feet of snow in just a few hours.

"High-altitude areas of Lahaul and Spiti, Chamba, Mandi, Kullu, Kinnaur and Shimla districts have been experiencing moderate to heavy snow," the official said.

Manali received mild rains. It experienced a low of 0.6 degree Celsius.

Kalpa, 250 km from Shimla, and Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district experienced one cm of snow each.

These towns saw the night temperature fall to 3 degrees and 4.5 degrees Celsius below freezing point, respectively.

Deputy Commissioner Dinesh Malhotra said buses bound for Rampur and Rohru towns and Kinnaur district from Shimla have started plying on the normal route via Kufri.

The Met Office has forecast snow and rain across the state till Sunday