About 482 roads are still blocked in Himachal Pradesh, including three national highways, including the NH-03, NH-505 and NH-305, due to heavy snow and damage caused by rains, as reported by the state emergency operation centre.
The weather conditions have also affected essential services such as power supply and drinking water.
District-wise, the Lahul-Spiti district has the highest number of blocked roads, standing at 271. Likewise, 67 roads are blocked in Mandi across Seraj, Thalot and Padhar divisions, 57 in Kullu, including the NH-305 at Jalori pass, due to heavy snow. About 40 roads were closed off in Shimla and 35 in Chamba across Pangi, Bharmour, Salooni, Tissa and Dalhousie sub-districts.
About 436 Distribution Transformer Rooms (DTR) are out of order in several parts of the states resuting in power outages. Out of them, 187 of the transformers out of order are in Kullu. In Shimla, 116 transformers are out of order, with 57 in Mandi and 50 in Chamba. About 273 DTRs were disrupted just in the Hahaul and Spiti subdivisions.
About 62 drinking water schemes have also been disrupted, impacting the availability of drinking water. 50 of them are in Shimla alone. About 10 schemes were affected in Chamba and two in Mandi.
Many parts of the state are cloudy, and the weather forecast predicts that heavy rain, snowfall and storms are to be expected on February 1st.
The IMD also forecasted rain for February 2nd and 3rd.
The minimum temperatures in Shimla on Saturday morning stood at 6.5 degrees Celsius.
An avalanche warning has been issued for Kullu, Lahual-Spiti and Pangi districts. Himachal weather: 482 roads remain blocked, 400 transformers are out of order across districts.
