Shimla, July 5 (IANS) Widespread rains caused a sharp fall in temperatures across Himachal Pradesh Thursday with Gaggal town recording the highest rainfall of 152 mm in the state, the weather office here said.
“The entire hill state witnessed moderate to heavy rainfall, bringing down temperatures by two-three degrees Celsius,” Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office here, said.
Shimla town recorded 66.6 mm of rain, while Dharamsala, Palampur, Manali and Kalpa towns saw rainfall respectively of 102 mm, 124 mm, 30.6 mm and 0.4 mm, according to Singh.
Another official said that conditions were favourable for the arrival of monsoon and it may hit the state soon.
The weather office has warned of heavy rains in Mandi, Kangra, Shimla, Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Chamba districts in the next 48 hours.
Shimla recorded the maximum temperature of 24 degrees Celsius Thursday, while Manali and Kalpa in Kinnaur district, and Dharamsala saw the maximum temperatures reaching 22.4, 18.4 and 32.2 degrees Celsius, respectively.
With rains drenching the state, no major forest fire has been reported in the state in the last 24 hours, said Avtar Singh, chief conservator (forest protection and fire control).
This summer, the state saw forest fires destroying over 20,000 hectares of green wealth worth over Rs.2 crore. Majority of blazes were reported in pine forests, according to Avtar Singh.
The worst affected districts included Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur, Kangra, Sirmaur, Solan, Mandi and Shimla, he said.
