Kullu: Over 800 roads remained blocked and large parts of Himachal Pradesh faced power outages as the mid and high hills of the state received moderate to heavy snowfall, while heavy rainfall lashed the low hills Tuesday night.Thunderstorms accompanied by squally/gusty winds, with speeds of 30-95 kmph were also witnessed.The snowfall started Tuesday morning in Lahaul Spiti and in the upper reaches of Kullu, Kangra, Kinnaur, Mandi, Shimla and Sirmaur districts, and continued overnight, burying the high-altitude areas under a thick white sheet.According to the Meteorological Centre, Shimla, it snowed 28 cm in Manali and 75 cm in Kothi in Kullu district. In Shimla district, Khadrala recorded 40.6 cm of snow, Shilaroo 17.7 cm, Sarahan 12.7 cm, and Kufri 11 cm.In Lahaul Spiti, Koksar recorded 31.1 cm of snow, Gondhla 36 cm, Kukumseri 28.3 cm, and Keylong 15 cm, while in Kinnaur district, Kalpa received 17.7 cm of snow, Pooh 16 cm and Moorang 12 cm.Heavy snowfall was also recorded in remote tribal belts of Bharmour and Pangi, which remained cut off from the rest of the state, and in the upper parts of Sirmaur district, including Haripurdhar and Nohradhar.Manali received the season’s second heavy snowfall as the highway was blocked between 15 Mile and the main town. The road up to the Atal Tunnel also remained closed. The nearby areas of Kullu, including Raison, Naggar, Patlikuhal, Katrain, Dobhi, and 15 Mile also received light snowfall Tuesday night.An official said road clearance started immediately in and around Manali town, and the main roads would be reopened for traffic in the coming days.All educational institutions remained closed in Kullu district on Wednesday. The district administration, in an order, announced that all schools and colleges would remain closed in the Manali sub-division on Thursday as well.While the upper reaches of the state recorded heavy snowfall, parts of the low and mid hills recorded moderate to heavy rainfall from Tuesday morning till late night.According to the Meteorological Centre, Shimla, the state recorded an average 34.6 mm of rain in the last 24 hours, which was 636% more than the normal rainfall of 4.7 mm.Kullu district recorded the highest rainfall of 54.2 mm, Chamba 46.6 mm, Mandi 40.3 mm, Solan 39.9 mm, Kangra 33.3 mm, Hamirpur and Lahaul Spiti 32.6 mm each, Bilaspur 37 mm, Sirmaur 27.3 mm, Una 23.6 mm, Shimla 22.4 mm, and Kinnaur 21.5 mm.Overall, between Jan 1 and 28, the state recorded 97.4 mm of rainfall, which was 29% more than the normal of 75.5 mm.The heavy snowfall and rainfall blocked over 800 roads and four national highways in the state, triggered power outages and caused water supply disruptions.According to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), a total of 885 roads remained blocked in Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday, with the highest 290 in Lahaul Spiti district, 176 in Shimla, 128 in Mandi, 91 in Chamba, 98 in Kullu, 74 in Kinnaur, 20 in Sirmaur, 5 in Kangra, and 3 in Una.Large parts of the state also remained without electricity as 3,237 Distribution Transformer Regions (DTRs) remained non-functional, with the highest 1,082 in Shimla district, 1,024 in Kullu, 369 in Mandi, 200 in Chamba, 199 in Lahaul Spiti, 164 in Kinnaur, 156 in Sirmaur, and 43 in Solan district.As many as 121 water supply schemes were also affected, including 91 in Shimla district and 23 in Chamba district.Kukumseri in Lahaul Spiti was the coldest place in the state, with the lowest minimum temperature of -6.1ºC.Meanwhile, two spells of snow and rain within a gap of three days brought cheers to anxious farmers as more than three-month-old dry weather conditions finally ended in the state.
