Over 600 Roads Still Blocked, More Snowfall, Rain Likely Till Jan 17 In Himachal Pradesh

As over 600 roads in various parts of Himachal remained blocked following heavy snowfall this week, the meteorological department on Saturday issued a fresh orange warning for more rain and snowfall till January 17.

Most parts of the state, including Kufri and Manali, reeled under biting cold at sub-zero temperatures, with Lahaul and Spiti district's administrative centre Keylong recording the lowest temperature at minus 14.3 degrees Celsius, the Meteorological Centre said.

Normal life in many parts of the state has been thrown out of gear since it received snowfall on Wednesday. According to data provided by a State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) official on Saturday evening, 632 roads, including 448 in Shimla zone, are still blocked.

Around 440 machines, including 381 earth movers, 16 bulldozers and 43 tippers, were on the job to clear snow from the roads.

On Friday, an elderly person died after falling on a slippery snow-covered road in the city. A number of people were also injured in similar accidents.

Shimla police, through its website, alerted people to avoid Victory Tunnel, Lakkar Bazar, Auckland and Sanjauli roads in the city as they were very slippery. It also advised them to take the old bus stand route to go to the premier Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) hospital.

Shimla Deputy Commissioner Amit Kashyap said all roads in Shimla Urban area were open for vehicular traffic and buses were plying on all routes, except on the Victory Tunnel- Lakkar Bazar stretch.

Snow clearing operations were going on a war-footing on the Shimla-Theog road and sand was being spread to make it traffic worthy.

Shimla-Chail and Shimla-Rampur road via Narkanda were blocked and adequate machinery has been deployed by the district administration to restore traffic, he added.

Himachal Pradesh Roadways buses were not plying in Upper Shimla areas and being diverted via Dhami, he said, adding that supply of essential commodities was available in far-flung snow-bound Dodra Kwar sub division.

In case of emergency, the administration may be contacted at helpline numbers 1077, 0177- 2800880, 280081, 280082 and 280083, the deputy commissioner added.

The Meteorogical Department on Saturday issued an 'orange' warning for rain and snowfall in the state till January 17 due to western disturbance.

The colour-coded warnings are issued to alert the public ahead of severe or hazardous weather, which has the potential to cause "damage, widespread disruption or danger to life".

Orange is for weathers that have the capacity to impact significantly.

The first western disturbance will be active in the state till January 13 and the other from January 14 to 16, the weatherman informed.

The minimum temperature in Kinnaur's Kalpa was minus 5.5 degrees Celsius, followed by Kufri in Shimla district at minus 4 degrees Celsius and Manali in Kullu district at minus 2.8 degrees Celsius.

Seobagh recorded a low of minus 1.5 degrees Celsius, Bhuntar minus 0.5 degrees Celsius and Solan and Sundernagar recorded minus 0.4 degrees Celsius each.

The minimum temperature in state capital Shimla was 3 degrees Celsius and Dalhousie of Chamba district registered 3.6 degrees Celsius.

While the maximum temperatures were 2 to 3 degrees Celsius below normal, the highest temperature in the state was recorded in Bilaspur at 19 degrees Celsius.