Heavy rain lashed several parts of Himachal while Shimla and surrounding areas were hit by hailstorm, causing sharp fall in day temperature. The tribal Kinnaur district was cut off from rest of the state by road as 250 mt stretch of Hinduatan-Tibet national Highway was breached in a massive landslide near Nugalsari, 165 Km from here.
Efforts are on to restore the road but cutting the hillside by clearing huge mound of debris was posing a major challenge and it may take few days to restore vehicular traffic. The complete restoration of the road would take a few weeks as construction of retaining wall in the difficult terrain with landslides continuing at intervals was posing a challenge.
Meanwhile the framers in the state are worried a lot as intermittent rains, thundershowers and hailstorm are considered very harmful for stand wheat crop in lower hills and stone fruit, vegetable and potato crop in temperate region.
The harvesting of wheat is in full swing in lower hills while it was at advance stage of maturing in mid and higher hills and rains and stormy conditions could cause massive damage and spell doom for farmers, say experts.
The MeT office has predicted rains, thundershowers and hailstorm in the region from April 19 onwards as a fresh western disturbance lies over the region, adding to the anxiety of farmers. Widespread rains lashed the region during past 24 hours and Bhoranj was wettest in the state with 52 mm rains while , Bijahi and Aghar received 51 mm and 50 mm rain, followed by Baldwara 37 mm and Berthin 33 mm.
The maximum day temperatures dropped by five to seven degrees after overnight rains and Nahan and Una recorded a high of 22.9 degrees and 22.8 degrees, against 32.2 degrees and 27.1 degrees on Wednesday while maximum temperature dropped to 22.6 degrees at Dharamshala, followed by Bhunter 21.5 degrees, Sundernagar 20.0 degrees and Solan 19.8 degrees. The state capital Shimla which received 28 mm rains, recorded a high of 14.0 against 22.0 degrees on Thursday, followed by Kalpa 10.2 degrees Celsius.