Lakes freeze in Himachal Pradesh, temperature plummets

The high-altitude areas of Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur, Chamba and Kullu districts have been experiencing moderate to heavy snow, meteorological office director Manmohan Singh said here. "Chandertal, Surajtal and Manimahesh have frozen to huge ice bodies after the temperature plummeted sharply," he told reporters. While the oval-shaped Manimahesh lake is located in Chamba district, Chandertal or Moon Lake and Surajtal or Sun Lake are in Lahaul and Spiti district.

According to Singh, the night temperature across Lahaul and Spiti district these days is below minus two degrees Celsius. Normal life was affected at Keylong town in the Lahaul valley as it remained cut off from the rest of the state on the seventh day due to heavy snow on mountain passes like Rohtang and Kunzum. Shimla and its surrounding areas had a drizzle Sunday night, leading to a sharp dip in temperature.