Five national highways among 441 roads closed as snow, rain lash Himachal

Shimla: Snowfall in the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh crippled daily life in the tribal Lahaul & Spiti and Kinnaur districts and sent 441 roads, including five national highways in the state, inaccessible.

The state's mid and low hills were lashed by rain intermittently.

The Met office in Shimla has issued a 'red warning' for Saturday with prediction of thunderstorms with lightning, hailstorm and heavy rain at isolated places accompanied with gusty winds reaching speeds of 40-50 kilometres per hour.

Five vehicles parked on a roadside were buried in an avalanche near Nehrukhund on the Manali-Solang Nallah road. No casualty was reported.

A house was damaged following a landslide in Bharmaur area of Chamba district while few houses are still under threat of damage.

Snowfall in the higher reaches of the Chamba, Kinnaur and Lahaul & Spiti districts led to the closure of roads and transformers becoming non-functional.

A total of 290 roads are closed in Lahaul & Spiti, 58 in Chamba, 56 in Kinnaur, 17 in Kullu, 10 in Mandi, nine in Shimla and one in Kangra. At least 1,314 transformers are out of order in Himachal Pradesh, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre.

The remote Dodra Kwar subdivision of Shimla district has been cut off from the rest of the state with the Shimla-Kinnaur Road blocked near Negulsari due to shooting stones. The heavy snowfall has also led to the closure of the Rohtang Pass.

Koksar in Lahaul & Spiti received 88.3 cm of snow - the highest in the state.

Gondla got 61.2 cm of snow Kukumseri 58 cm, followed by Keylong, 53 cm, Kalpa, 51.7 cm, Pooh and Pangi, 30 cm each, Khadrala, 16 cm, Sangla, 11.2 cm, Moorang, 9.3 cm, and Atal Tunnel and Manali, 6 cm each.

With 84 mm rainfall, Manali was wettest in the state, followed by Banjar, 80.2 mm, Seobagh, 77.4 mm, Reckong Peo, 48 mm, Bharmour, 47 mm, Sarahan, 47 mm, Rampur and Chamba, 45 mm each, Dalhousie, 44 mm, Chopal, 42 mm, and Rohru, 40 mm.

Snow and rain across the state will continue till Sunday. The weather will remain dry in the plains, the low and mid hills during March 4-5 while snow and rainfall will continue in the higher reaches, said Shimla Meteorological Centre Director Surender Paul.

Kalpa in the tribal Kinnaur district was the coldest place in the state, recording a night temperature of minus 2.1 degrees Celsius.

The local MeT office has predicted a wet spell in the state till March 7 as a fresh Western Disturbance would affect the western Himalayan region from the night of March 5.