A 48-year-old man and his son were killed when their house collapsed in Jaban Taparia village in Solan district while four members of the family had a narrow escape as rains wreaked havoc in many parts of the state.
The tribal areas, mountain passes and other higher hills had another spell of fresh snowfall while mid and lower hills experienced widespread rains accompanied by strong velocity winds, causing sharp fall in minimum temperatures.
Ramlok and his 13-year-old son Ajay, were buried alive when their kucha house collapsed following heavy rains. Ramlok's wife, elder son and two daughters sleeping in the adjoining room had a narrow escape.
The bodies of the deceased were extricated from the debris and handed over to family members after post-mortem and immediate relief of Rs 50,000 was given to the affected family, DSP, Khajana Ram said.
Meanwhile, minimum temperatures dropped by few notches in mid and higher hills of Himachal Pradesh due to fresh snowfall in tribal areas, mountain passes and other higher reaches while the mid and lower hills had widespread rains.
Keylong in tribal Lahaul and Spiti districtwhich recorded 23 cm of fresh snow was coldest in the region with mercury dipping to minus 3.6 degrees, followed by Kalpa zero degree and Manali 0.4 degree, Shimla 3.2 degrees, Bhuntar5.9 degrees, Dharamsala and Sundernagar 8.6 degrees, Nahan 9.7 degrees and Una 15.6 degrees Celsius.
Rohtang Pass received 60 cm of snow while Hansa, Kothi and Kalpa recorded 15 cm, Kothi 14 cm and Kalpa 10 cm of snow.
The sprawling Dhauladhar hills in Kangra and Churdhar ranges in Sirmaur and Rohtang Pass had another spell of heavy snowfall, hampering snow clearance operations on Manali-Rohtang-Keylong highway.
The intermittent rains and snow, accompanied by high velocity winds caused extensive damage to stone fruit crops in mid and higher hills and standing wheat crop in the lower hills of the state.
Kasauli was wettest in the region with 55 mm rains while Manali and Dharampur had 49 mm rains, followed by Jubbar Hatti 48 mm, Shimla, Kandaghat and Bhuntar 45 mm, Sundernagar 36 mm, Araki and Kumarsein 41 mm, Bijahi 40 mm, Sarahan 35 mm, Jhanjehli and Kufri mm, Solan 33 mm, Seobagh 32 mmand Dharamsala 29 mm.
The maximum temperatures also dropped marginally and Una which was hottest in the region recorded a high of 24.6 degrees, followed by Nahan 20 degrees, Sundernagar and Solan 18.6 degrees, Dharamsala 16.4 degrees, Bhuntar 14.7 degrees, Shimla 14.6 degrees, Manali 7.4 degrees and Kalpa 7 degrees.
The local MeT office has predicted rains/thunderstorm or snow at many places tomorrow and dry weather in the region on March 15 and 16.
