HP: Heatwave continues in lower hills, Una hottest in 25 years

The intense heatwave conditions prevailing in the lower hills of Himachal Pradesh continued unabated for the third day today, with Una in Shivalik foothills recording a maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius, the highest in 25 years.
The town bordering Hoshiarpur district of Punjab had last witnessed the mercury soaring to 45 degrees in June 1989.
The lower hills in Una, Sirmaur, Bilaspur and Hamirpur and parts of Mandi and Kangra districts reeled under heatwave as day temperature stayed five to six degrees above normal.
In Sundernagar in Mandi district, the mercury breached the 40 degrees Celsius mark and touched 40.5 degrees for the first time in the season.

Kangra and Nahaan recorded a high of 39.1 degrees and 38.6 degrees, five notches above normal, while Solan and Bhuntar recorded maximum of 37.5 and 37 degrees.
The people in state capital Shimla had an unusually warm day with minimum and maximum temperatures marginally up at 20.2 and 31.2 degrees Celsius.

The minimum night temperatures also rose by a few notches, and Nahaan and Palampur recorded a low of 25.6 and 24.2 degrees.
Kalpa in the tribal Kinnaur district recorded a minimum of 11.2 degrees, five notches above normal, while Keylong was coldest at night with a low of 8.2 degrees.

The heatwave in the lower hills have hit paddy cultivation as farmers are going to the fields in early morning and returning before noon to beat the heat.
The dry weather, coupled with scorching sun, is causing drying up of perennial water sources and in case the mercury stays high for a few more days, the water scarcity prone areas may face a crisis.
The weather remained dry across the state, barring Saloni in Chamba district which received 15 mm of rains.
Meanwhile, the Manali-Leh National Highway, the highest road in the world, has been opened for tourists after nearly seven months but the order of the Green Tribunal to levy "congestion tax" is causing great inconvenience to tourists.

A checkpost has been set up near Gulaba on Manali-Rohtang highway for issuing permits to tourist vehicles and a tax of Rs 50 is being levied per vehicle.