By IANS,
Shimla: If the plains of northern India are shivering and dense fog is playing havoc with road, rail and air traffic, then trudge to the hills!
Ironically, north India’s hill stations like Shimla, Kasauli and Dharamsala are warmer compared to the plains this winter.
“The temperatures in the hills are unusually high these days due to prevailing dry conditions. Moreover, there is no fog in the hills,” Director of Shimla’s meteorological department, Manmohan Singh told IANS.
He said the fog generally accumulates when humidity level is 70 percent or more. In the plains, it is more. However, in the hills it’s less than 30 percent, so the sky there is crystal clear resulting in long, sunny days.
In Shimla, located at a height of 7,000 feet above sea level, the minimum temperature Sunday was 6 degrees Celsius, 2.6 degrees above average. Similarly, in Dharamsala, the minimum was 4 degrees Celsius.
Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti was the coldest place in Himachal Pradesh with the night temperature at minus 6.3 degrees Celsius, while it was minus 0.8 degree Celsius in Manali and minus 2.4 in Kalpa, some 250 km from Shimla.
Contrary to the hill towns, Delhi saw a minimum temperature of 2.9 degrees, Chandigarh 2.8 degrees, Jammu 4.3 degrees and Amritsar 0.6 degree Celsius below the freezing point.
According to the Met office in Delhi, it was the coldest Christmas in the capital in the last five years with the minimum temperature five notches below average.
Singh attributed the rise in temperature in the hills due to long, sunny days that kept the minimum and maximum temperatures up by several notches. Singh said dry air continues to prevail over the state. A feeble western disturbance is likely to hit the western Himalayan region from Dec 27.
Shimla natives say there has been a noticeable change in the climatic conditions of the town in the past 10-15 years.
“Where has the snow gone?” asks Bhiwani Singh, a former government employee settled in the town since 1965.
“From December onwards, we used to spend most of our time in front of fireplaces. Now, daily sunshine keeps both the minimum and maximum temperature above average,” he said.
Another resident, Suraj Dhiman said the town has hardly experienced heavy snow. “There is a big gap between one spell of snow and another. The days are not far when Shimla’s residents will have to visit hills overlooking the town to see snow,” he added.
Environmentalists blame deforestation for the change in Shimla’s climatic conditions.