Orange alert for heavy snowfall today

The Weather Department has issued an orange alert for heavy snow at isolated places in mid and high hills for tomorrow. Isolated spells of heavy snowfall are likely in the districts of Chamba, Shimla, Kullu, Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti.

Rain has also been forecasted at most places in plains and low hills and rain and snow at most places in mid and high hills. Essential services like water, electricity and communication are likely to be affected and visibility is also expected to drop. People have been advised to follow the advisories and guidelines issued by the departments concerned.

Shimla received a sprinkling of snow for a while around noon but the spell did not last long. The city received 2-mm rain during the day. Rainfall was also recorded in Sundernagar. Kalpa in district Kinnaur received 4.3-cm snowfall today.

Road connectivity and distribution transformers remained disrupted at several places across the state. As per the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), 485 roads were still blocked and 461 distribution transformers were yet to be restored.

Besides, 68 water supply schemes have also been disrupted. The maximum roads (161) have been blocked in Shimla district, followed by Lahaul and Spiti (153) and Kullu (71).