IANS/Shimla
Shimla and Manali yesterday woke to a heavy blanket of snow and no electricity. But the white mantle transformed the tourist resorts, making them even more picturesque.
Road links to both Shimla and Manali were disrupted throughout the day due to landslides triggered by snowfall, officials said.
However, traffic on the Shimla-Kalka national highway, which was disrupted in the morning, was cleared by afternoon. Train service on the route was normal.
The road connectivity on the Kullu-Manali highway remained snapped as a thick blanket of snow covered the road near Patlikuhl, some 20km before Manali.
More than 38.6cm snow fell in Shimla and 36cm in Manali, a weather official said.
Shimla, which recorded a low of minus 1.5 degrees Celsius, saw the highest snowfall on a single day in January in the past eight years, Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office, said.
Manali, which had no electricity through the day shivered at 1.6 degrees Celsius below freezing point.
Dharamsala, the venue of the fifth and final ODI between India and England on January 27, saw 63.8mm rain. It recorded a low of 4.2 degrees Celsius.
But the mighty snow-clad Dhauladhar ranges, forming the backdrop of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association venue in Dharamsala, turned whiter with fresh snow.
Kalpa, some 250km from state capital Shimla, saw 49cm of snow, while it was 11cm in Keylong.
Kalpa was the coldest town in the state with a low of minus 7.8 degrees Celsius; it was minus 6.7 degrees in Keylong.
Meanwhile, the Hindustan-Tibet road beyond Shimla remained closed on the second day as snow lay thick over it.
Kinnaur district and the upper areas of Shimla district were cut off as various link roads in Jubbal, Kotkhai, Kumarsain, Kharapathar, Rohru and Chopal were blocked by snow.
An official of the Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation said it would take at least two days to restore traffic to upper Shimla towns.
The Met department’s forecast said a feeble western disturbance - storm systems originating in the Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region - would again be active on January 23.
Meanwhile, the first phase of pulse polio immunisation campaign today in Shimla, Kullu, Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti districts and Bharmour and Pangi subdivision of Chamba district has been postponed due to heavy snowfall.
A government spokesman said the next date for the campaign would be declared later.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who was away in Jaipur to attend a Congress conclave, has directed the authorities to ensure reopening of all link and major roads on priority to facilitate smooth movement of traffic.
A bulldozer clears snow from a road near the village of Naddi, about 12km from Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh yesterday.
