Himachal: Early snowfall brings happiness among gardeners
Himachal Pradesh: Rains and light but widespread snowfall since Sunday evening ended the two-month-long drought in Himachal, bringing cheers to farmers, apple growers and hoteliers. Koksar (Lahaul and Spiti) recorded the highest snowfall of 6.7 cm, followed by Khadrala (Shimla) at 5 cm, Chaupal (Shimla) and Sangla (Kinnaur) at 4 cm each and Shimla at 2.5 cm. Light rain was recorded in many other parts. Though no further spell of rain or snowfall is forecast for at least a week, the current spell has brought relief to farmers and orchardists. Deputy director of agriculture department Sameer Sharma said the rains will help rabi crops. “Farmers in some places were waiting for some rain to sow wheat. They can go ahead now. The rains will help the germination process of already sown crops,” he said. Shimla-based apple grower Lokinder Bisht said the snowfall would make the plants go dormant. “This time, due to no rain since September, the leaf fall has been delayed. Due to snowfall, the leaves will start falling and the plants will go into dormant state. If this happens, apple growers can start pruning on a large scale,” he said. Fruit growers can also start using manure and fertilizers wherever there is sufficient moisture. Intense cold wave conditions prevailed in many high altitude areas with temperatures remaining below minus two to six degrees Celsius. Due to light rain and snowfall, the post-monsoon rainfall deficit in the state from October 1 to December 9 decreased from 98 per cent to 96 per cent. During this period, the state received only 2.1 mm of rain as against the normal rainfall of 49.3 mm. Chamba recorded 100 per cent rain deficit, Bilaspur, Kullu, Sirmaur and Hamirpur 99 per cent, Kangra and Solan 97 per cent and Shimla 96 per cent. Meanwhile, the rain and snowfall closed more than 80 roads and disrupted nearly 400 power distribution transformers. Though most of the restoration work was completed by Monday evening, 15 roads and 18 transformers were still not operational.
