Season's heaviest snowfall in Uttarakhand

Dehradun, Jan 22 (IANS) Uttarakhand on Monday recorded the seasons heaviest snowfall with the hill resort of Mussoorie virtually wearing a blanket of snow.

The surrounding hills of Nainital city also experienced mild snowfall which brought cheer to tourists and hoteliers alike in most of the tourist resorts in the hill state.

A roof of a school building at Gopeshwar town of the hilly Chamoli district caved in. There was no casualty in the incident as the school was closed due to the meteorological warning of snowfall and heavy rain.

Heavy snowfall in the upper reaches of the Himalayas and rain in the lower areas also heralded a fresh spell of cold wave in the hill state.

Most of the private and government schools were closed after the Met department's warning of heavy snowfall and rain in the state. 

"All the schools have been closed in all the hilly districts and also in Dehradun on Monday due to the met department's warning of heavy rain", said an official statement.

Tourists on Tuesday morning began rushing to Dhanaulti, the tourist resort near Mussoorie, following overnight snowfall that covered most of the area. Tourists also put up pictures of the heavy snow at Dhanaulti in social media like Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram. "It's snow everywhere. We are enjoying," said Raghuvendra Singh, a tourist at Dhanaulti. Areas such as Lal Tibba in Mussoorie also experienced snowfall in the early morning.

However in the afternoon, Mussoorie started experiencing heavy snowfall. By the late evening, the famed Mall Road was covered with a white sheet of snow with tourists revelling in the area. This was the first snowfall of the season in Mussoorie.

Kedarnath and Badrinath areas are also experiencing heavy snowfall since last night. The reports said the upper reaches of the Garhwal Himalayas in Chamoli district were experiencing the heaviest snowfall of the season. 

The Met department said the snowfall and rain are likely to continue for a day or two in the hill state.