Shimla: Snow in the higher reaches and widespread rains over the last 24 hours in the lower regions of Himachal did bring about much needed relief but at the same time threw life out of gear as uprooted trees, landslides and rock fall disrupted roads and power lines.
Temperatures have plummeted with Shimla recording the day’s high at 13.4 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, which is 11 degrees Celsius below the normal mean for the month.
The meteorological weather station at Arki recording 112 mm in 24 hours was the rainiest place in the state.
Manmohan Singh, met director said that higher reaches of Lahaul-Spiti, Chamba, Kinnaur and Kullu did record snowfalls since Monday. Keylong, the district headquarter of Lahul-Spiti recorded 8 cm of snow, he said.
Road traffic over the Rohtang Pass that had been thrown open last week, has been closed as the 13050 feet high pass had recorded over 16 cm of snow by Tuesday afternoon.
Sher Singh, district information officer Keylong said that the Manali-Leh road over Rohtang Pass has been closed for traffic because of over 16 cm of snow on the high pass.
By Tuesday morning Shimla had received 66.9 mm of rain, Kasauli had 67 mm in Kasauli, Sundernagar town had 54.6 mm, Bhuntar town in Kullu had 38.7 mm, Kalpa in Kinnaur had 23.8 mm, Mandi had 42.4 mm, Palampur had 13 mm and Dharamshala, the seat of Dalai Lama’s court had 4.2 mm of rain in 24 hours recording, the met office disclosed.
Diluting all traces of a hot summer, the farmers’ communities have welcomed the timely rains for all Kharif crops, but tourist movement has been affected as most visitors to hills stations such as Shimla, Kufri, Narkanda, Kalpa, Kasauli, Chamba, and Manali were rained in and had to spend the day indoors.
The weather forecast has predicted the heavy rains to continue into Wednesday.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
