Heavy snowfall in Shimla, ,Tourists stranded,many rescued

Shimla, 14 December (HS): Snowfall continues in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Three states have been experiencing heavy snow for two days. This is the third snowfall of this season. People are having a lot of trouble due to snowfall. Due to snowfall, all the schools in Chamba, Uttarkashi, Tehri, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, and Dehradun have been closed on Saturday.

Eight of the 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh have come under a snowfall in the last 48 hours . All the tourist places including Shimla, Kullu, Manali, Kufri, Kangra, Mandi are snowed. At the same time, Jammu and Kashmir are also completely under fire. There is heavy snow on Jammu Srinagar National Highway due to which roads are not visible and the road has been closed in many places.

On one hand, tourists are enjoying the snowfall in Himachal Pradesh’s capital Shimla, while on the other hand people are facing problems. The snowfall has had a tremendous impact on traffic. On Saturday morning, the entire city is seen wrapped in a white sheet of snow and many roads are closed due to snow in the streets.

100 tourists from outer states went to Shimla for the last night due to heavy snowfall and got stuck in Hasanwali between Dhali and Chhabra. These tourists were going to visit Kufri in tourist buses, but the buses got stuck in heavy snowfall. Joint teams of District Administration, Police and Public Works Department conducted rescue operations throughout the night and evacuated the tourists early Saturday.

According to District Deputy Commissioner Shimla, Amit Kashyap, the number of these tourists trapped in the snow are close to 100 and there are also women tourists. They were taken out of the snow safely and placed in the gurudwara and tribal building in Shimla, where food was arranged for them. After removing snow from the road, they will be sent to their respective destinations.

He said that the weather of the capital is clear on Saturday and snow cutting machines and JCB has been installed to open the closed routes due to snow. It may take time to restore the closed roads due to snow in all the hilly areas of Upper Shimla.

Meanwhile, Director of Meteorological Center Shimla, Manmohan Singh said that Shimla has received 8 cm fresh snow. The minimum temperature was recorded at -0.5 degree Celsius. He has predicted light snowfall in Shimla and hill areas during the next 24 hours.