Himachal Pradesh government on Monday issued a low danger avalanche warning for five state districts.

On the basis of information received from Chandigarh-based Snow Avalanche and Study Establishment (SASE), a warning has been issued for avalanche prone areas, including Kullu, Shimla, Chamba , Lahual and Spiti, and Kinnaur districts.

‘According to the advisory, there are partly safe conditions and small size triggering is possible on few extreme slopes,’ the advisory issued by SASE read.

The warning comes after higher altitude areas of the state experienced moderate to heavy snowfall in the last 24 hours.
Road traffic disrupted, NH 5 reopens

The areas have been witnessing intermittent snow spell, snapping road and electricity connectivity across various regions.

The upper Shimla regions remained cut off from the rest of the state following heavy snowfall in the tourist resort Kufri, Kharapathar and Narkanda. Traffic on as many as 75 lateral roads across the state remained affected, while the National Highway Five connecting Punjab’s Ferozepur to the sugar point Shipkila along China border was thrown open for vehicular movement on Monday. Kharpthar on the Theogh-Hatkotyi national highway was also cleared off the snow.

Snow-clearing machines have been deployed at Kufri, besides extra traffic police for smooth movement of vehicles. an official said.

‘All the major roads in Shimla district were thrown open on Monday. The road connecting the Chopal to Khidki is still closed for traffic and would be cleared off the snow by Tuesday,’ said Shimla deputy commissioner Amit Kashyap.

Meanwhile, all the officials at the sub-divisional level have been directed to take appropriate measures to ensure that ration supply is not disrupted during snowfall, he added.

Power outages

Electricity supply to various localities in Shimla remained suspended adding to peoples’ woes in extremely cold weather condition. The plummeted temperature affected the water supply in the state capital due to frozen pipelines in places, including the United Service Club, Richmond, Lakkar Bazar, and Jakhu locality.

Sunshine in Himachal after widespread snow

It was a bright and sunny on Monday morning in most parts of Himachal Pradesh after days of widespread snowfall. The minimum temperature settled at – 0.7 °C in Shimla, which saw 5 cm of snow.

Shimla’s nearby destinations like Kufri, Fagu, and Narkanda experienced moderate snowfall in the past 24 hours.

Keylong, district headquarters of Lahaul-Spiti, was the coldest in the state at a minimum of -12° C. It saw 6 cm of snow.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district saw a low of -8.6 °C, while the minimum temperature was -3.6 °C in Manali, -1.9 °C in Dalhousie, -4.5 °C in Kufri and 1.8 °C in Dharamsala.

Chail, a tourist resort 35km from Shimla, received 10cm of snow and recorded – 1.6°C temperature while Bharmuar and Khadrala in Rohru witnessed 6 and 10 cm of snow, respectively.

Rains lashed towns in lower hills in Himachal Pradesh such as Dharamsala, Palampur, Solan, Nahan, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur, and Mandi, pushing down the mercury.

The Met said another western disturbance — storm systems originating from the Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region — are likely to hit the western Himalayan region on January 8, bringing isolated to scattered precipitation.

Courtesy by : Daily Hunt