Shimla struggles to cope with record snowfall

As heavy snowfall has eluded this erstwhile summer capital of British India in recent times, the "snow manual" of the administration, followed since the Raj, has virtually been lying in cold storage. Then, suddenly, 83 cm of snow fell on January 7 and 8. And with the administration's failure to handle its disastrous consequences snowballing into a political controversy and causing local dissent, state authorities are rapidly defreezing the words of wisdom in the book. "The inability to restore electricity and water supply -- disrupted on January 7 -- in most Shimla localities, clearly reflects a failure on the part of government," said octogenarian local resident Ramesh Sood.The electricity to Sood's residence in Stokes Palace near the Chief Minister's official residence Oakover was restored only on January 11, after five days of disruption, but remains erratic. "This (snow) is a wake-up call," he added.