Fresh snowfall in Shimla and beyond draws tourists to Himachal Pradesh

Breaking a ten-week dry spell, Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla, along with the nearby tourist resorts of Kufri, Fagu, Chansel, Narkanda and the Churdhar ranges, as well as several high mountain passes, received the first snowfall of the season on Sunday evening.

The snow brought in cheer to the farmers, apple growers and hoteliers.

Shimla received 2.5 cm of snow, and areas like The Ridge, Mall Road and Jakhoo Peak were covered in a light blanket of snow.

Snowfall was also recorded in key tourist destinations such as Manali, Kasauli, and Chail since Sunday evening, while Dharamshala experienced light snow on Monday.

Talking to news agency PTI, Kanishka from Haryana’s Rohtak, who had come to Dharamshala, said, “The weather is beautiful, and we were lucky to witness snow. It is for the first time that I have seen snow-clad mountains, and the view is beautiful”.

While another Tourist Kajal from Delhi said they had not expected snowfall, and the mountains looked like a canvas.

High-altitude areas and mountain passes were blanketed in snow, causing minimum temperatures to drop by four to six degrees. The high-altitude tribal areas experienced piercing cold, with minimum temperatures ranging from 12 to 18 degrees below freezing. Tabo recorded a low of minus 12.3 degrees Celsius.

Koksar recorded 6.7 cm of snow, followed by Khadrala with 5 cm, Sangla with 3.6 cm, Keylong with 3 cm, and Nichar and Shimla both with 2.5 cm.

The lower hills of the state saw light rainfall, with Kandaghat, Kasauli, Jubbarhatti and Mandi recording 2.2 mm, 2 mm, 1.9 mm, and 1.4 mm of rain, respectively.

Roads closed

On Monday, Himachal Pradesh witnessed its second snowfall of the season which led to the closure of 15 roads, including two National Highways, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said.

At least 15 roads, including Atari-Leh National Highway 3 and Firozpur-Shipki La National Highway 5, were blocked for vehicular traffic in Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti districts.

Since Sunday evening, about 800 people stranded in 490 vehicles in Lahaul due to the snowfall have been rescued, according to the Lahaul and Spiti police. Snow and slippery road conditions also disrupted vehicular traffic on several roads in the upper Shimla region.

Tourist dies

A tourist from New Delhi, Bhishan Garg (49), died on Sunday night when his vehicle skidded on the icy road and collided with a parked tipper in the Lahaul Spiti district while three others sustained injuries, police said.

The accident occurred when the driver of the ill-fated car tried to overtake the vehicles stranded in traffic as the road was slippery. He lost control, resulting in the car crashing into the tipper.