Shimla : Heavy snowfall along with blizzards hit Himachal Pradesh early Monday with the famous apple belt of Shimla district seeing the heaviest snowfall in many years paralysing life in this scenic region.
While the state capital Shimla had the coldest night of the season at minus 3 celcius . A fresh spell dumped around a foot of snow in the night in this popular tourist destination.
The Kalka-Shimla road was blocked and many homes in the town had no water due to freezing of water pipes . Power failures plagued most parts of the hill station .
The blizzard dropped heavy snow in Rohru , Jubbal , Narkanda , Kharrapather , Chopal and Dodra Kwar areas of the apple belt , bringing life here to a grinding halt .
At least 2 to 4 feet of snow has been dumped in these areas .The region remains cut of from the rest of the state since the last three days . Power cables have been snapped by the heavy snow and strong winds.
The weather office says Shimla district has experienced the heaviest snowfall in the last six years in January.
Manali , another popular tourist destination in the Kullu valley also had a fresh spell of snow Monday . While tribal Lahaul & Spiti bordering Tibet had yet another spell of snow and a bone chilling night.
Over the weekend Dharamsala the seat of the Dalai Lama and Chamba had record breaking snowfall while towns in the Himalayan foothills including Kangra , Jwalaji and Chintpuri among other places saw snow after 45 to 75 years shocking locals .
The weather man says the wet weather is likely to ease by Tuesday in the state .
In a 20 year career published widely. He has worked for the BBC, AFP, The Statesman, IANS and the Business Standard . Known for his hard hitting writing and occasional off-beat stories. He lives in Shimla.
good start