Shimla and its surrounding areas received the first snow of the year on Tuesday while the lower hills had widespread scattered rain.
The rain and snow broke the seven-week-long dry spell, bringing cheers to farmers and apple growers. The day temperature dropped by six to seven degrees in the state.
The state capital and the areas in its vicinity had been experiencing moderate snow since this afternoon and the upper parts received 10 cm of snow till this evening. The snow disrupted the vehicular traffic on the Hindustan-Tibet National Highway near Narkanda and Kharapatthar.
An ambulance carrying a patient skidded near The Ridge here and fell near the Tibetan market. However, the woman patient, being taken to the IGMC hospital, was rescued and taken to the hospital in another vehicle.
Roads at vulnerable locations, including the IGMC and High Court, have been cleared and no reports of power disruption have poured in yet,” said Shimla Deputy Commissioner Amit Kashyap who was at the control room, monitoring the activities. He advised people to avoid driving at night and during the snowfall and said all arrangements were in place to meet any exigency.
Nankhari in Rampur, Kufri, Fagu and parts of the higher hills of Sirmaur had moderate snow while lower hills received rain. The Churdhar ranges in Sirmaur and the Chansel pass also received 10 cm of snow while Nohra Dhar, Gatta Dhar, Bathau Dhar and Banali Dhar also received 6 to 8 cm of snow.
The lower areas of Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, Bilaspur, Kullu and Kangra districts received intermittent rain, intensifying the cold conditions. Chail also saw snowflakes.
The rain and snow has broken a prolonged dry spell and brought cheers to farmers while apple growers heaved a sigh of relief. Snow during this period is considered white manure for the apple crop as it provides much-needed cooling hours and moisture.
However, farmers in several areas are worried as rain was not widespread and some areas did not receive any rain or snow. More rain is required to have normal rabi and apple crop.
Rain has provided relief to Forest and Irrigation and Public Health Departments struggling with forest fires in many parts while natural sources of water are drying up which could cause acute water shortage during summer. The rain will help replenish the natural sources of water to some extent.
The MeT has predicted dry weather for six days from Wednesday and rain or snow in higher hills on January 24.
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