By IANS,
Shimla : Moderate to heavy snowfall continued across Himachal Pradesh for the second day Friday, and the government advised local people and tourists not to venture to the state’s higher reaches.
An advisory was issued not to venture to the high hills of Shimla, Kullu, Sirmaur, Chamba, Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur districts as chances of heavy snowfall and landslide are high over the next 12 hours, a government spokesperson told IANS here.
He said even the snow-bound areas near the tourist resort of Manali like Solang, Beas Kund, Nehru Kund, Gulaba and Marhi have been declared out-of-bounds for tourists.
Officials said state transport buses for upper Shimla towns like Rohru, Theog, Kharapathar and Chopal have been temporarily pulled out of service because of snowfall.
For Rampur and Kinnaur, buses were plying via Dhami and Basantpur.
“More than 90 buses have been stranded at various routes in Shimla district,” an Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation official said.
Vehicular traffic on the Chandigarh-Manali highway has been disrupted between Kullu and Manali.
Meanwhile, all educational institutions in Lahaul and Spiti district have been closed for the next two days because of heavy snowfall in the district.
Deputy Commissioner S.S. Guleria said people have been advised to stay indoors to avoid untoward incidents.
The picturesque tourist spots of Shimla and Manali have been experiencing snow in spells since Thursday.