Shimla, Jan 14 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh's capital Shimla and popular tourist resort Manali Wednesday got another spell of snowfall, turning the hill stations more picturesque.
As news of the snowfall flashed across the plains, tourists started arriving at Manali and Shimla, the hospitality industry members said.
"Shimla and its nearby tourist spots have been receiving snowfall since this (Wednesday) morning," an official of the meteorological office here told IANS.
The residents of Shimla shivered as icy winds brought down the minimum temperature to 1 degree Celsius.
It started snowing in Manali around midnight, much to the delight of those in the hospitality industry. The snow was certain to draw tourists and visitors, they said, though the minimum temperature in the town slipped to sub-zero 0.8 degree Celsius.
Shimla's nearby tourist spots like Kufri and Narkanda and the ski slopes in Solang in upper Manali also experienced fresh spell of snowfall.
The snowfall, however, blocked highways and roads in many parts of the state.
Towns in upper Shimla hills were cut off with heavy snow cover piled on roads, officials said.
Traffic movement beyond Dhalli, 10 km from Shimla, was suspended since a large stretch of Hindustan-Tibet Road disappeared under a thick layer of snow.
The entire Kinnaur district and towns in Shimla district such as Narkanda, Jubbal, Kotkhai, Kumarsain, Kharapathar, Rohru and Chopal are cut off due to snow, a government official here told IANS.
"High-altitude areas of Lahaul-Spiti, Chamba, Kullu, Kinnaur, Sirmaur and Shimla districts have been experiencing moderate to heavy snow," said the Met official.
Rain lashed lower areas of the state such as Dharamsala, Palampur, Solan, Nahan, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur and Mandi, pulling down both night and day temperatures.
You may also be interested in:
Shimla, Manali Wrapped up in Snow Again
The minimum temperature was 4.4 degrees Celsius in Dharamsala, which received 12.8 mm of rain, and 1 degree below the freezing point in Kalpa in Kinnaur district, which recorded 13 cm snow.
Tourism industry representatives are happy after the snow.
D.P. Bhatia, general manager of Clarke's Hotel in Shimla, said it was really nice that Shimla and its nearby destinations saw the good spell of snow. "It will definitely attract the tourists in the days to come," he added.
Tourist Naveen Sikka said: "We are lucky to see snowfall in Shimla."
The Met Office forecast said western disturbances - storm systems originating in the Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region - would remain active till Thursday, bringing more rain and snow.
For the hill people, this obviously augurs well, an official said.
Preparations for the G20 summit are in full swing in the national capital. Several areas of Delhi
The counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections is underway. It will become clear who will rule
Many scientific researches and campaigns published in the last two decades have warned about the
CBI Arrests Chit Fund Executive in Tripura
Agartala, Jan 15 (IANS) An executive of a chit fund has been arrested in Tripura by the CBI for
Bigg Boss OTT 2 Contestant Elvish Yadav Avinash- Sachdev Abusive Fight: Contestants' brawl contin
Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Wednesday that India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ha
India's 'digital strike' after Pahalgam attack, Pakistan government's official X account suspended
After the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu, and Kashmir, India is continuously taking strict a
These changes may happen in iPhone 14, Apple may rebrand the chip
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 14 series in or around September and now a new report su
11 more swine flu deaths in Rajasthan, toll 153
Jaipur, Feb 14 (IANS) Eleven people more died of swine flu in Rajasthan Saturday, taking to 153
Sahadev, a resident of the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, died in a road accident on Tuesday nig
