Himachal faces avalanche threat

A threat of avalanche loomed over the hills of Himachal Pradesh with higher areas experiencing heavy snowfall for the second consecutive day on Monday.

The defence ministry warned that a medium danger (yellow stage) avalanche exists in some parts of the state till Tuesday 5 pm.

It said the people staying in snow-bound areas of Solang, Beas Kund, Nehru Kund, Gulaba, Marhi in upper Manali in Kullu district, Chamba, Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti districts are advised not to venture in avalanche-prone areas during the period.

The residents were also advised to clean the snow from their rooftop to avoid any casualty due to roof collapse. Most parts of the state saw moderate to heavy snowfall coupled with rain on Monday, bringing the temperature down considerably.

Picturesque tourist spots Shimla and Manali got moderate spells of snowfall. The minimum temperature in Shimla went down to minus 0.2 degree Celsius whereas the maximum was 7 degrees.

The state capital saw 24 cm of snow and 31.3 mm of rain in the past 24 hours, the Met office said. Other parts of Shimla district experienced moderate snowfall. Manali, which experienced 35 cm of snow, recorded a low of minus 1.2 degree Celsius, while it was minus 2.5 degrees in Kalpa, Kinnaur district, minus 6.9 degrees in Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district and 2.1 degrees in Dharamsala.

Kalpa and Kinnaur experienced 41.8cm and 21.7cm of snow respectively. Dharamsala, Solan, Kasauli, Nahan, Palampur and Mandi received moderate to heavy rains.
Gohar in Mandi district saw the highest rainfall in the state, 105 mm.

A meeting of state government functionaries was held here on Monday to take a stock of situation. Principal secretary (revenue) Deepak Sanan, who presided over the meeting, said almost all major roads, except Shimla-Rampur via Narkanda, Shimla-Chopal via Theog, and Shimla-Rohru via Kharapathar, have been reopened for traffic.

According to the Met office, a western disturbance will remain active in the state till Tuesday.