Cold wave relents in Delhi: More snow in HP higher reaches

New Delhi, Feb 12 (UNI) Cold wave relented in Delhi even as higher reaches in Himachal Pradesh experienced another spell of snowfall and Punjab and Haryana were lashed by widespread rain today.

Shimla and its adjoining areas experienced fresh snowfall, plumetting the temperature in the capital town. Upper areas of Shimla district, including tourist resorts Kufri and Narkanda and the tourist places of Manali in Kullu district and Dalhousie in Chamba district also had snowfall.

Vehicular traffic on the 320-km Hindustan-Tibet road remained suspended beyond Dhalli following snowfall, a report from Shimla said. Roadways buses to Rampur and other higher areas in Shimla district have been diverted via Dhami and Sunni, while vehicles to Rohru and other places in the district have been diverted via Poanta.

The Shimla-Chandigarh national highway and Shimla-Mandi road was open for the vehicular traffic.

Various localities in Shimla town, where power wires were snapped due to snowfall yesterday, continue to remain without electricity for the second day today.

High altitude areas in Tribal districts of Kinnaur and Pangi valley in Chamba district had moderate snowfall intensifying cold wave currently lashing the tribal belt. Lahaul Spiti district experienced mild snowfall.

Lower and mid hills in Himachal Pradesh and many areas in Punjab and Haryana experienced rainfall overnight. However, the minimum temperature hovered above normal in the twin states.

Amritsar was the wettest place in Punjab recording 38.4 mm rainfall till 0830 hours. Ludhiana, Patiala, Nangal and Hoshiarpur areas also had rain.

In Haryana, moderate rain pounded Karnal, Nelokheri, Kalka, Panchkula, Rohtak and Ambala.

Traffic on the 300-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway resumed today after remaining suspended since last evening due to landslides and shooting of stones, triggered by heavy rains.

At least 20 people were killed in rain-related incidents in various parts of the country on Sunday.

Cold conditions, following rain and thunderstorms in the national capital since Saturday, left Delhities shivering for the third consecutive day today even as weathermen held out the possibility of more rains during the day.

For the fourth consecutive day, heavy cloud enveloped the skyline, indicating the possibility of more spells of rainfall in the next 24 hours.

There was a nip in the air in Rajasthan even as the sun was shining and the cloud cover had receded. The state capital was cold at 12 degrees along with Ajmer, Bikaner and Barmer. Several crops were damaged in Bikaner due to unseasonal rains.

Cyclonic Circulation over Rajasthan combined with disturbances in the Northern part of the country led to the early morning showers in parts of Mumbai.

The strong cold wave in the northern part of the country changed the Cyclonic Circulation in the Western parts creating a cloudy atmosphere.

In Guwahati bad weather returned after three days of sunshine at the 33rd national games.

UNI