Himachal Pradesh tourist destinations shiver at sub-zero temperatures

Most of the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh, including tourist destinations Shimla, Kufri and Manali, witnessed sub-zero temperatures on Thursday, a day after widespread snowfall across the state, the Meteorological Department said.

The lowest temperature was recorded in tribal Lahaul-Spiti district's administrative centre Keylong at minus 14.6 degrees Celsius and the highest at 16.8 degrees Celsius in Una, it added.

The maximum temperatures across the state were 8 to 9 degrees below the normal during the day.

Meanwhile, 935 snowbound roads in the state, including five national highways and one state highway, remain blocked as per the status available at 4 pm, a state disaster management authority (SDMA) official said.

Train service between Shimla and Kalka was normal, Shimla station superintendent Prince Sethi told PTI. Six up and down trains ran between Shimla and Kalka on both Wednesday and Thursday as usual, bringing relief to tourists stranded due to blockade of road. A separate charter down train was also run on the Shimla-Solan route, he added.

Bus service from the Inter State Bus Terminus in Shimla to Chandigarh, Delhi and other parts resumed on Thursday morning, Officiating Regional Manager (RM) of Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC), Shimla, Rajendra Sharma said.

Sharma told PTI that local bus service from ISBT Shimla to old bus stand, Ghanati, Dhami and Dhalli via Mehli and Malyana was also restarted after clearance of snow on Thursday.

Shimla Police, meanwhile, put out a Facebook post alerting tourists not to travel towards Kufri and Mashobra as the roads were still snow-bound.

The mercury went on a downward spiral across most of the state. The minimum temperature in Kinnaur''s Kalpa was minus 9.1 degrees Celsius, followed by Manali minus at 7.8, Dalhousie at minus 5.6, Kufri at minus 5.2 and Shimla at minus 3.7 degrees Celsius, Shimla Met Centre Director Manmohan Singh said.

The minimum temperature in Solan and Palampur of Kangra district was recorded at minus 0.8 degrees Celsius, Singh said.

He added that the weather would remain mostly dry in Himachal Pradesh on Friday.

The Met centre forecast rain and snowfall in the middle and the high hills from January 11 to 15, however it issued the 'yellow' warning for Monday only.

The weather office issues colour-coded warnings to alert people ahead of severe or hazardous weather that has the potential to cause "damage, widespread disruption or danger to life".

Yellow, the least dangerous of all the weather warnings. It indicates the possibility of severe weather.

Kufri received 58 cm snowfall from Wednesday till 8.30 am on Thursday, followed by Khadrala (56 cm), Theog (52 cm), Bijahi (45 cm), Sarahan (36 cm), Jubbal (31 cm), Shimla (27 cm), Banjar (25 cm), Kalpa (23 cm), Janjehli (20 cm), Mashobra (16 cm), Kumarsen (15 cm) and Rohru and Rajgarh (10 cm each).

Apart from this, Jatton Barrage recorded 47 mm rainfall since Wednesday, followed by Paonta Sahib (41 mm), Nahan (38 mm), Rampur (37 mm), Rajgarh (26 mm), Gohar and Dharamshala (25 mm each), Baldwara (23 mm), Solan (22 mm), Sangrah (17 mm), Rajgarh (16 mm), Pandoh (14 mm) and Arki (11 mm), Singh added.

Power supply has been adversely affected in many areas as 3,883 Dynamic Transformer Rating (DTRs) were disrupted, the SDMA official said, adding that water supply was hit in 67 areas.