Coldwave revives in HP

Shimla, Jan 21 (UNI) The cold wave sweeping mid and higher hills of Himachal Pradesh intensified today as the minimum temperatures hovered around freezing point, the Met office said today.

Capital Shimla reeled under biting cold wave conditions with mercury plummeting to 1.7 degrees Celsius in midtown and below freezing point in upper areas of the town as compared to 2.4 degrees Celsius recorded yesterday.

The Met office said Sunder Nagar and Bhuntar recorded a low of one and minus 0.2 degree, while Kalpa in tribal Kinnaur district shivered under minus 5.6 degrees Celsius after recording minimum temperature of minus 5.1 degrees Celsius.

Waterpipes remained frozen in several places in mid and higher hills, including Shimla, and thick ground frost hampered vehicular traffic.

The tribal valleys of Lahaul, Spiti, Pangi and Pin had no respite from cold conditions as minimum temperature stayed between minus 15 and minus 25 degrees Celsius in high altitude tribal areas.

Residents of Shimla and other adjoining areas woke up to another bright and a sunny today as the dry weather spell continued in the state.

All natural sources of water including the Surajtal, Chandratal, Nako lake, 70 km stretch of Chandra Bhaga river in Spiti valley and tributaries of major rivers were frozen for past more than a month causing sharp fall in discharge of water in snow-fed Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers.

The electricity generation in major hydropower projects had also come down to 15 per cent due to insufficient discharge of water in the rivers.

UNI