Heavy snow in Himachal snaps road links

Shimla, Jan 8 (IANS) Heavy snowfall in the higher reaches of Chamba and Kullu districts in Himachal Pradesh snapped all major road links there, an official said Sunday.

Two people lost their lives in Chamba district when they were hit by lightning.

'The high hills in the entire Chamba district have been experiencing heavy snowfall since Saturday. We have issued an advisory to the public to restrict their movement in the next 24 hours as chances of glacial movement is high in the district,' Chamba Superintendent of Police Madhu Sudan told IANS over phone.

He said two locals were killed due to lightning near Banikhet village.

Hills overlooking the picturesque tourist resort of Manali in Kullu district have been experiencing heavy snow.

The Rohtang Pass (13,050 feet) and the Baralacha Pass (16,020 ft) - located on the Manali-Leh highway - experienced heavy snowfall, the weather office here said.

Most of the popular hill destinations in the state have been witnessing light to moderate snow, Meteorological Office director Manmohan Singh said.

It is snowing in Shimla, Manali, Chamba, Dalhousie and Kalpa.

Shimla and its nearby tourist spots Sunday again experienced snow. The minimum temperature recorded in this hill station was minus 0.0 degree Celsius.

Shimla recorded 13.3 cm of snow till early Sunday. However, nearby tourist spots like Kufri, Fagu and Narkanda experienced moderate snowfall.

Manali, which recorded a low of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius, saw 18 cm of snow, while Dalhousie recorded 100 cm of snow, Chamba 30 cm and Kalpa in Kinnaur district 8.8 cm.

Meanwhile, traffic on the Pathankot-Chamba national highway remained disrupted on the second day Sunday due to heavy snowfall at Banikhet.

Singh said both Chamba and Dalhousie towns have been cut off from neighbouring Punjab due to snapping of road links.