Heavy snowfall in the state has created curfew-like situation in the capital Shimla. Life has become very busy. Apart from the main roads in the city, all the connectivity roads of the Municipal Corporation are also closed. Trees covered with snow are falling apart as havoc. More than 12 trees have fallen till Friday evening. These trees fell on houses, power lines and vehicles, causing huge destruction. Trees have fallen on the roads in many places so far. The Forest Department has also asked to remain alert on Saturday, anticipating tree collapse in the city. Heavy snow has accumulated on trees in many areas including Jakhu, Banmore, Chaura Maidan, Lakkar Bazar, Sanjauli. Due to heavy snowfall, the situation in the capital is such that even the roads connecting the hospitals are closed. City’s Jakhoo, Banmore, Lakkar Bazar, IGMC, Dhali, In many areas of Chhota Shimla, a thick layer of snow has accumulated on the pedestrian paths. It may take two days to restore movement in these
Snowfall continues in the capital since Thursday. At the same time, Shimla Police has issued an advisory regarding heavy snowfall that all roads in the city are closed due to slippery. People should avoid unnecessary movement and if it is necessary to go somewhere, use alternate routes. For any emergency assistance, 0177-2812344 or 112 numbers or the nearest police station can be contacted. Due to heavy snowfall, a holiday has been declared in the periphery of Shimla Municipal Corporation on Saturday. The district administration has issued a notification in this regard late night.Deputy Commissioner Aditya Negi said that due to heavy snowfall in the city, Saturday will be a local holiday in the municipal area. The Jakhu area of the city has received about three feet of snowfall. Apart from this, there has been snowfall up to two feet in Navbahar. Snow removal work will be started on a war footing from the city roads on Saturday. On Friday morning, the municipal teams started the snow removal work from some roads including IGMC Hospital and Kamala Nehru Hospital but due to heavy snowfall, it was stopped midway. fell. Snow was removed with JCB only on the roads connecting the hospitals. Sanjauli – IGMC road has been restored with JCB but due to slippery movement on it is closed.A tree collapsed on residential houses in Nabha. According to local councilor Simi Nanda, there was a demand to cut this tree. Despite the visit of the tree committee, it has not been cut so far. Now three rooms have been broken here due to the collapse of trees. Near the snowland, a tree also collapsed on the road, breaking power lines and street lights. Trees have also collapsed due to snow in Baluganj, Kaithu, Lalpani, Toland, Lakkar Bazar, Jakhu area. According to Forest Department DFO Anita Bhardwaj, the fallen trees are being removed as soon as the information is received.In the capital on Saturday also, movement in most areas of the city is going to come to a standstill. In view of the weather, there may be heavy slippery on the roads in the morning. The Municipal Corporation has prepared a plan to remove the snow since morning. According to this, the roads will be cleaned through machines on the roadways connected to the hospitals in the morning itself.After this, snow will be removed from the markets including Ridge Maidan, Mall Road. Snow will be cleared by robots in Jakhoo, Banmore area. But due to heavy snow, the work may get delayed. More than two hundred laborers will be employed to clear the snow from the footpaths. Municipal Commissioner Ashish Kohli said that snow removal work will start in the city from Saturday morning itself. Snow has been removed from the roads connecting to the hospitals on Friday as well.Shimla’s road connectivity with outlying areas was cut at around 9 am on Friday due to heavy snowfall in the capital and adjoining areas for two days. Shimla-Chandigarh Highway closed near Sankatmochan Ghoda Chowki, Shimla-Mandi Highway near Hiranagar Dhaindha and Shimla-Rampur Highway near Dhali. On Friday, bus service on local routes in Shimla also came to a complete standstill. Old Bus Stand to ISBT route got closed at around 9 am on Friday due to slippery road near HRTC Diesel Pump near Tutikandi crossing.After this the bus service from ISBT to outlying areas was completely stopped. Vehicles queued up from Taradevi to Tutikandi crossing due to jams near Sankat Mochan and Ghoda Chowki. From Hiranagar Dhindha, the traffic jam took place via Baluganj till Tutikandi crossing. The Dhali to Mashobra and Kufri roads were also completely closed for traffic. Bus service could not run on the local routes of the capital Shimla. The circular road could not be restored till late evening. The buses coming from Solan side returned from Taradevi, while the buses coming from Bilaspur side returned from Hiranagar. People had to walk eight to ten kilometers to reach Shimla amid snowfall.Pawan Sharma, Executive Divisional Manager, HRTC Shimla Division, said that the bus service for the outlying areas came to a standstill after around 9 am on Friday. Buses could not go ahead due to slippery conditions near the diesel pump of HRTC near Tutikandi crossing. The operation of buses will depend only on the condition of the roads on Saturday.The traffic in the city has come to a complete standstill. In the morning, employed people were seen going to work on foot. Many employees coming from outside the city could not even reach the office. In all the government offices in the city, only a few employees turned up for duty. The work of picking up the garbage in the morning also came to a halt. Even today it is difficult to collect garbage due to snowfall in the city. Even in the evening, people were forced to go home from office on foot. Street lights did not even turn on due to the collapse of trees.
