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Heavy snowfall numbs Shimla

— Photo: AP

SNOW, SNOW EVERYWHERE: The scene after a heavy snowfall in Shimla on Sunday which disrupted traffic and paralysed normal life in Himachal Pradesh. Tribal areas are experiencing snowfall since Saturday night.

SHIMLA: Shimla experienced the heaviest snowfall of the season on Sunday with about 30 to 40 centimetres of snow falling on the main town and the nearby hills of Jakhu and Dhingoo Devi.

The snowfall which started in the wee hours paralysed life at number of places and left a large number of vehicles stranded near Dhalli, Kufri and other places on the Hindustan Tibet National Highway.

The vehicular traffic to upper Shimla, including Theog, Narkanda, Chopal, Jubbal-Kotkhai and Rohru has been suspended and traffic was being diverted via Dhami and Basantpur.

Vehicular traffic was also suspended within Shimla town forcing the residents to walk long distances. Vehicles were plying normally on the Shimla-Mandi and Shimla-Kalka national highways.

The famous tourist resort of Manali and its surrounding areas recorded about 45 cm snowfall, while Solang Nullah and Dhundi recorded 35 cm of snow each, besides 30 cm at Bhang Manali.

A report from Solan district said high altitude areas of Karol and Barog also experienced snow, while the low altitude Solan town also experienced intermittent snowflakes after a long time.

The met office said the 13,050 ft Rohtang Pass, the gateway to Lahaul-Spiti district, recorded about 60 cm snowfall in the afternoon.

Rekong Peo, the district headquarters of Kinnaur district, was cut off from the lower areas, due to heavy snowfall there. Power supply was also badly affected in the district, which had recorded about 20 cm of fresh snowfall.

Reports of fresh heavy snowfall in the Dhauladhar Ranges, overlooking the Kangra Valley, the upper areas of Sundernagar in Mandi district have also received.

The upper areas of Chamba district including Pangi, Bharmaur, Dalhousie, Kugti Pass and several other parts had unprecedented snowfall since Saturday night.

Churdhar and upper areas of Rajgarh in Sirmaur district had moderate to heavy snowfall, while Dodra Kwar and Khadrala were also cut off from the rest of the country following heavy snowfall.

Low lying areas of the State experienced widespread rains, plummeting temperatures.

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Heavy snowfall numbs Shimla

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