Rain cheers tourists in Himachal

Shimla, May 23: After days of abnormally high temperatures, rain in Himachal Pradesh on Monday brought cheers to thousands of tourists who have thronged the hill stations to escape the heat in the northern plains.

With 2.9 mm of rainfall, Shimla, situated at an altitude of 2,130 metres, saw the maximum temperature dropping by two degrees from Sunday's 29.1 degrees Celsius.

Nearby areas like Kufri and Mashobra saw moderate showers accompanied by hailstorm. "The entire state saw rain, bringing the temperature down considerably," a weatherman told IANS.

The picturesque tourist resorts of Manali, Palampur, Dharamsala and Dalhousie experienced mild rainfall throughout the day.

Dharamsala, the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile, recorded 30.8 degrees Celsius, a fall from Sunday's 34.2 degrees.

Sundernagar recorded a maximum of 30.5 degrees Celsius, while it was 32.2 degrees in Nahan and 24 degrees in Kalpa.

"What a pleasant relief in Shimla from the scorching heat wave," said Pooja Ahuja, a tourist from Chandigarh.

The Met office said there could be light to moderate rain or thundershowers in popular tourist resorts like Shimla, Narkanda, Kufri, Kasauli, Manali, Palampur, Chamba and Dalhousie on Tuesday and dry weather thereafter.

IANS