Shimla: Heavy snowfall across Himachal Pradesh has led to the closure of 565 roads, including two national highways and disrupted nearly 4,800 power distribution transformers, officials said on Friday.

 

According to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), the tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti is the worst affected with 292 roads blocked. This includes NH-03 (Leh-Manali) and NH-505 (Kaza-Gramphu).

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Traffic jam on the Manali highway | Photo: ANI

Other major closures include 105 roads in Chamba, 70 in Una, 64 in Mandi, 20 in Sirmour, nine in Kullu, four in Kangra and one in Solan.

 

Hotel occupancy in Manali has also reached full capacity, and because of the heavy rush, visitors are now heading towards Kullu.

The snowfall has also crippled power infrastructure across the state. Of the 4,797 affected transformers, 1,856 are in Solan, 901 in Mandi, 682 in Kullu, 659 in Chamba, 624 in Sirmour, 53 in Lahaul and Spiti, 20 in Kinnaur and two in Una, leaving several areas without electricity.

The Meteorological Department has forecast continued heavy snowfall in the state's higher reaches for the next two days, January 24 and 25.

While weather conditions in other areas are expected to remain largely clear, a yellow warning for dense fog and cold wave has been issued for Kangra, Mandi, Solan, Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur and Sirmour during the same period.

Himachal Pradesh on Friday received its first snowfall of this winter, ending a nearly three-month-long dry spell. According to the Shimla Meteorological Centre, Kothi village near Manali received 15 cm, the highest in the state.

Gondla, Kukumseri and Hansa villages in Lahaul and Spiti district received 12 cm, 6.8 cm and 5 cm of snow, respectively. Jubbal in Shimla district recorded 6 cm, Manali 4.8 cm, Keylong and Kufri received 4 cm each.

Shimla recorded 0.6 cm of snowfall. District administrations have begun snow clearing operations and people have also been advised to avoid unnecessary travel, especially in areas that have received fresh snowfall.

(with inputs from PTI)