Shimla receives season's first snowfall, Srinagar NH reopens

New Delhi, Dec 11 (UNI) Mercury plunged in North India today following snowfall in Himachal Pradesh even as the 300 km Srinagar-Jammu National Highway reopened for traffic after seven days.

The cold wave in Himachal Pradesh and its adjoining areas intensified as most parts of the state experienced snowfall.

After nine years, Shimla received snowfall in December, Shimla Meteorological Department Director Manmohan Sharma told UNI.

Other tourist resorts of Kufri, Fagu, Narkanda, Sarahan and Naldehra in Shimla district, Manali in Kullu district and Dalhousie and Khajjiar in Chamba district also experienced mild snowfall today. There was a sharp fall in night temperature in the state capital, which stood at 0.7 degrees Celsius.

The higher reaches of Pangi and Bharmaur were covered under a thick blanket of snow and Manimahesh Lake in Chamba district has frozen. The higher reaches of the tribal areas, mountain passes and other higher areas also experienced snowfall. The Manali-Leh road remained closed for the 15th day today following fresh spell of snow last night on the 13050-feet high Rohtang Pass.

Traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway again resumed this afternoon after remaining suspended for about seven days due to landslides and shooting of stones, triggered by rains. All the incoming and outgoing flights, including those carrying Haj pilgrims from the Jammu and Kashmir to Jeddah, also operated normally.

The highway's closure for had badly affected the services of the State Bank of India (SBI) in the valley. The outside cheques deposited in different SBI branchs in the valley by customers during the past three weeks have yet to get clearance.

The national capital witnessed a slight rise in the minimum temperature today to 9.1 Degrees Celsius, even as the day temperature fell to 21 Degrees C, three degrees below normal.

The ongoing chill in Delhi and other parts of north-west India is expected to intensify in the coming week with weatherman forecasting a sharp fall in mercury in the next few days.

Snowfall in the northern states has resulted in a cold spell for Rajasthan, which witnessed a dip of 2-3 degrees Celsius today. Jodhpur remained the coldest today at 5.4 degrees Celsius.

The state capital experienced a fall of 5 degrees Celsius, recording 6.6 degrees Celsius today.

Pilani recorded 6.3 degrees Celsius, Barmer 6.5 C, Ganganagar 6 C, Churu 6.6 C, Ajmer 8.8 C, Bikaner 8.6 C, Jaislamer 9.4 C, Udaipur 9.2 C, Rawatbhata 10.8 C, Jhalawar 12.6 C and Kota 13.8 C.

Cold conditions also intensified in Madhya Pradesh with the mercury dipping across the state by two-three degrees.

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