Heavy snowfall in Himachal; 240 roads closed for vehicular traffic

Himachal Pradesh on Thursday received the first snowfall of the season, bringing joy to residents, tourists and farmers alike. However, the snowfall also led to closure of 240 roads in the state causing disruptions in vehicular traffic.

A moderate to heavy snowfall continued in the high hills and tribal areas of the hill state, officials said.

Snow in Shimla

Shimla was wrapped in a thin blanket of snow but the 5-km stretch between Kufri and Fagu in the capital of Himachal Pradesh was engulfed by snow.

Braving the cold, tourists and residents thronged Shima’s Mall Road and Ridge to experience and enjoy the snow. Thursday’s snowfall came after Shimla was lashed by a severe hailstorm on Wednesday (January 31) night followed by intermittent rains.

Roads shut

The snowfall and rain, however, led to the closure of more than 240 roads, including six national highways, in the state to vehicular traffic. Also, 677 power transformers got disrupted, the authorities said.

A maximum of 165 roads were blocked in Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti districts.

Rains continue

Motor traffic in the upper Shimla area beyond Dhalli came to a standstill after snow blocked the roads in Kufri, Fagu and Narkanda.

Shimla’s Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi told PTI that the roads would be cleared soon.

Intermittent snowfall has continued in five of the 12 districts since Tuesday night.

Farmers happy

The MeT office has issued a yellow alert for thunderstorm and lightning on February 3 and 4.

The forecast for heavy snowfall has brought relief to the farmers as well as the fruit and vegetable growers, who had suffered huge crop losses due to the prolonged dry spell.

The wet spell is likely to be beneficial for the Rabi crops, a spokesperson for the agriculture department said.

Hoteliers happy too

The heavy snowfall was also welcomed by the tourism and allied industry. “Tourist footfalls are likely to increase due to snowfall," said M K Seth, president of the Shimla Hotel and Tourism Stakeholders Association.

The tourist destinations of Narkanda, Kufri, Shimla, Manali, Rohtang, Sangla, Dalhousie and Khajjiar received snowfall.

Heavy snow

Chidgaon in Shimla district recorded snow 75-cm deep, while Shikari Mata registered 60 cm, Kothi 50 cm, Chanshel and Kamru Nag 45 cm each. Manali received 37 cm of snow and Keylong 32 cm.

The cold wave conditions persisted in the lower hills and dense fog occurred at some places.

Driest spell

Kukumseri was the coldest at night recording a minimum temperature at minus 3.1 degrees Celsius. Manali recorded minus 0.1 degrees Celsius, Dalhousie 0.9 degrees Celsius and Shimla 1.8 degrees Celsius.

The state witnessed the driest January in 2022 with about 99 per cent rain deficit and 83 per cent rain deficit in December 2023. The MeT has predicted a wet spell in the state till February 5.