Avalanche threat in Himachal
January 16th, 2012 - 8:39 pm ICT by IANSShimla, Jan 16 (IANS) A threat of avalanche loomed over the hills of Himachal Pradesh with higher reaches experiencing heavy snowfall for the second consecutive day Monday.
The defence ministry warned that a medium danger (yellow stage) avalanche warning exists in some parts of the state till Tuesday 5 p.m., a state government release said.
It said the people staying in snow-bound areas of Solang, Beas Kund, Nehru Kund, Gulaba, Marhi in upper Manali in Kullu district, and Chamba, Kinnaur and 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 rooftop of their houses to avoid any casualty due to roof collapse.
Most parts of the state saw moderate to heavy snowfall coupled with rains Monday, bringing the temperature down considerably.
Picturesque tourist spots Shimla and Manali got moderate spells of snowfall.
Snowfall and rain pulled the minimum temperature down to minus 0.2 degree Celsius in Shimla, whereas the maximum was a mere 7 degrees.
The state capital saw 24 cm of snow and 31.3 mm of rain in the past 24 hours, the Met office here said.
Other parts of Shimla district, especially the upper reaches, experienced moderate snowfall.
Manali, which experienced 35 cm of snow, saw a low of minus 1.2 degrees Celsius, while it was minus 2.5 degrees in Kalpa in 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 at 105 mm.
Meanwhile, a meeting of state government functionaries was held here 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.
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- Snow, rain continue in Himachal - Feb 14, 2012
- More snow in Himachal, high alert in state (Lead) - Jan 15, 2012
- Himachal shivers, Shimla has season's coldest night - Jan 06, 2012
- Severe cold in Himachal, snowfall disrupts flights (Lead) - Jan 15, 2011
- More rain, snowfall forecast for Himachal - Feb 14, 2011
- Mild snowfall in Shimla, Manali - Mar 08, 2012
- Hills near Shimla, Manali get more snow - Jan 15, 2012
- More snowfall, rain in Himachal - Feb 16, 2011
- Shimla, Manali shiver - Feb 09, 2012
Tags: avalanche warning, beas, chamba, defence ministry, degree celsius, dharamsala, kalpa, kasauli, kinnaur, kullu district, lahaul and spiti district, manali, palampur, principal secretary, prone areas, rampur, roof collapse, shimla, spiti, yellow stage