Fresh snowfall in Manali, Dalhousie brings down temperature in HP

The cold wave further intensified in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday with several high altitude regions in Kullu, Chamba, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts receiving fresh snowfall and rain, the meteorological department said.

Kothi, Gondola and Manali in Kullu district received 2.5 feet, 10.5 cm and 5 cm snow respectively and Dalhousie in Chamba district received 2 cm snow, the Shimla MeT centre director Manmohan Singh said.

The tribal district Lahaul and Spiti's administrative centre Keylong got 20 cm snow, whereas Kinnaur's Pooh and Kalpa received 8 cm and 5 cm snow respectively Saturday, he said.

Despite overcast sky no fresh snowfall occurred in Shimla on Saturday, he added.

In the meantime, Dharamshala got 6 mm rain, Bhuntar and Amb received 2 mm rain each, whereas Kangra, Chamba and Sujanpur Tira got 1 mm rain each, he added.

Meanwhile, Keylong continued to be the coldest place in the state at -7 degree Celsius, the MeT official said.

The minimum temperature in Kalpa was -2 degree Celsius, while it was -1.1 degree in Dalhousie and -0.8 degrees Celsius in Kufri from 5.30 pm Friday to 8.30 am Saturday, he said.

It may be recalled that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had sounded an 'orange warning' of heavy snowfall, rain and hailstorm in most parts of the state from January 4 to 6.

Acting on the weather advisory, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) had already made preparations to deal with any eventuality.

The state and district control rooms are in a state of readiness to deal with any eventuality, a state official had said, adding that tourists and the general public have been advised to avoid the higher reaches in the coming days.

Issuing instructions not to venture to high reaches, district administrations of Chamba, Kinnaur and Kangra urged the public to contact at emergency number 1077 in case of emergency.

Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Gopal Chand advised the residents not to come outside their homes without any urgent work to avoid any untoward incident.