HP: Heavy snowfall in Kinnaur, schools closed

Heavy snowfall in Himachal Pradesh's tribal district Kinnaur forced the administration to shut down schools in two subdivisions on Wednesday, officials said.

Cold wave intensified across the hill-state on Wednesday as the minimum temperature decreased by several notches as higher reaches received snowfall while other parts were lashed by rain, the meteorological department said.

Schools in Pooh and Kalpa subdivisions have been closed as a precautionary measure on the directions of Kinnaur deputy commissioner Gopal Chand, a district official said.

Many parts of Kinnaur received around 10 inches snowfall, district public relations officer Narendra Sharma said.

As per Shimla MeT centre director Manmohan Singh, 32 cm snowfall was recorded in Kalpa till 8.30 am on Wednesday and the minimum temperature dropped to minus 1.6 degrees Celsius.

Another tribal district Lahaul-Spiti's administrative centre Keylong continued to be the coldest place in the state with the minimum temperature settling at minus 6 degrees Celsius, he added.

Solan, Nahan, Shimla and Paonta Sahib recorded 17.6, 11.3, 9 and 4.4 mm rainfall till 8.30 am on Wednesday, he added.

Manali and Bilaspur witnessed 2 mm rain each, he said.

The minimum temperature in tourist destinations Kufri, Manali, Dalhousie and Shimla was recorded at 0.3, 3.8, 4.5 and 4.7 degrees Celsius respectively, Singh added.