Himachal Pradesh battles untimely severe weather conditions
Shimla, May 3
Heavy and incessant rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms has disrupted normal life, as the State battles severe weather conditions in Himachal Pradesh. Slippery roads have caused vehicular traffic disruptions from link roads to National Highway, as well as air connectivity to popular tourist destinations such as Shimla, Manali, and Dharmshala.
In light of the weather forecast, Superintendent of Police Lahaul-Spiti, Mayank Chaudhary (IPS), has issued guidelines for the safety of drivers traveling from the South Portal to North Portal Rohtang tunnel up to Keylong. He urged the public to follow the guidelines and prevent any untoward incidents.
On Tuesday, a vehicle got stuck on the side of a wet and slippery road due to rainfall, but police personnel safely removed it from the spot. Unfortunately, a Haryana Roadways bus skidded on slippery roads in Una, hit a tree, damaged a house, and caused one fatality while injuring six people.
Thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, and lightning have hit Shimla and nearby areas, causing flight suspensions to Jubbarhati, Bhuntar, and Dharmshala airports for the past three days.
Also read: Bad climate hits Himachal Pradesh as record-breaking rainfall sends mercury plummeting
Over the past 24 hours, there has been incessant rainfall and a drastic drop in temperature to ten to eleven degrees below normal, causing cold wave conditions in the mid and high reaches of the state. The average maximum temperature plunged by 11 degrees below normal, with Chamba and Hamirpur recording 16 and 14 degrees below normal on May 2.
The minimum temperature in Keylong was the coldest in the state, recorded at 1.6 degrees Celsius and 3.4 degrees below normal. The tourist resorts of Narkanda recorded 4.4 degrees, Kalpa 5.8 degrees, Manali, Kufri, and Dalhousie recorded six degrees, Shimla 8.5 degrees, Solan, Bhuntar, and Dharamshala 11 degrees, Mandi and Chamba 14 degrees, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Kangra, and Una 15 degrees, and Nahan 17.7 degrees.
The gateway of Lahaul-Spiti district, the 13,050-foot Rohtang pass and Baralacha pass, received a moderate spell of snowfall. Gondla in the district received two cm of snowfall.
Dalhousie (Chamba) received 80 mm of rainfall, Kotla (Una) 67 mm, Bhattiyat (Chamba) 57mm, Dharmshala 51mm, tourist resort Manali 45 mm, Dehra-Gopipur (Kangra) 41 mm, Chamba 35 mm, Palampur (Kangra), Sundernagar (Mandi) 28 mm, Seobagh (Kullu) and Bharmour (Chamba) 25 mm, Mandi 18 mm, Kangra 16 mm, Jubbarhati airport 11 mm, and Shimla 8 mm.
The Met office has issued an Orange alert for the rest of the day and a Yellow alert for the next two days, predicting widespread rainfall. The current weather conditions are expected to last until tomorrow.
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