Moderate to heavy snowfall in Himachal; 200 people rescued

New Delhi, Jan 9 (UNI) More than 200 people, stranded in Kinnuar district of Himachal Pradesh due to an avalanche, were rescued even as clouds brought in a whiff of warm weather in Delhi today.

Official sources in Shimla said more than 200 people were stranded about five km from Sangla on the Sangla-Karcham road.

They said efforts were on to rescue the stranded people after the district headquarters, Rekong Peo, recorded about 105 cm of snow in about 36 hrs. It had recorded 200 cm snow in 1992.

Clouds brought in a whiff of warm weather in Delhi after last week's cold wave, as the mercury here shot up to 11 Degree Celsius, four degree above normal.

Chilly winds swept most parts of the north-west region of the country following snow and rain even as the minimum temperature kept above normal.

Tribal districts of Lahaul Spiti and Kinnaur and Pangi valley in Chamba district had another spell of snowfall intensifying cold wave currently lashing the tribal belt.

Moderate to heavy snowfall lashed many areas in Himachal Pradesh while lower areas of the hilly state and isolated places in Punjab and Haryana experienced rain today.

All mountain passes, including Baralacha Pass, Saach Pass and Rohtang Pass, and Kibber (16,000 feet), the highest village in the world, had heavy snowfall.

Tourist resorts of Naldehra, Kufri and Narkanda in Shimla district, Manali in Kullu district and Dalhousie in Chamba district also had snowfall.

Isolated areas in Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir also reported rainfall. However, the mercury kept two degrees to nine degrees up in these states.

Ambala, Hissar, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Balachaur, Nangal Dam, Mukerian, Srinagar and Jammu experienced rainfall.

The mercury also rose in Chandigarh recording 12.0 degrees, six degrees above normal. The city was lashed by intermittent rain since last night.

In Rajasthan there was a considerable abatement in the cold wave condtions from the last few days due to the western disturbances.

The minimum temperature has reached normal, while some places in western and northern parts of the state experienced drizzles.

The nationwide toll stood at 106 with 85 deaths in Uttar Pradesh, nine in Gujarat, four each in Bihar and Punjab and two each in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

UNI TEAM SK BD2003