Shimla: Fruit growers are a happy lot as the apple belt in the Shimla region recorded the heaviest snowfall in January in the past six years, raising hopes of a good crop. However, power generation in the state plunged to the lowest level as the discharge in rivers and streams declined sharply due to extreme cold conditions. The Shimla region had not received much snow over the past two days during the current spell as the focus of the western disturbance remained more towards the Kangra, Chamba and Kullu areas. However, the heavy snow over the past 12 hours has more than made up for the deficiency. The blizzard which lashed the region in the wee hours of the day left the Jubbal, Rohru, Chopal and Narkanda areas under a 100 to 120 cm thick blanket of snow. The region accounts for 75 per cent of the state’s total apple production. Last year there was no snow and the crop failed. Giri Bahadur of Sharontha village in Rohru, located at 7,000 ft, said it had been snowing for the past three days and the entire area was covered under over 3 ft of snow. He was quite pleased as the snow will ensure a good apple crop and plenty of water during the lean summer months. The Hatu peak overlooking Narkanda and Churdhar had 5 to 6 ft of snow. The Shimla region has not been receiving much snow in January in recent years and it was the heaviest snowfall since 2005 when over 100 cm snow was recorded in the apple belt during the month. In fact, since 1990, when there was 151 cm of snow in January, such heavy snow has been experienced only twice, in 1993 (109 cm) and 2005. With the mercury hovering below the freezing point, the discharge in the Sutlej dipped to 70 cumecs (cubic metre per second), brining down generation in the country’s largest Nathpa Jhakri project to a meagre 7 million units. The normal discharge during this time of year is 85 to 90 cumecs. The state electricity board’s own generation also plunged to the lowest at 22 lakh units (LU) per day as against over 100 LU during the peak summer. With the peak demand touching 250 LU, the board has been forced to procure 70 LU of power per day, besides the 70 LU being supplied to it by the government from its share as royalty in various projects. The 300 MW Baspa project is generating only 10 LU, the 126 MW Larji 8 LU and the Sanjay Vidyut Yojna 5 LU. The refusal of Punjab and Haryana for counter-banking arrangement has added to the woes of the board as it has increased the shortfall by 30 LU. The outages due to breakdown of power lines following heavy snow in various parts of the state has provided some reprieve to the board; otherwise it would have had to purchase 15 to 20 LU of additional power. With most parts of the state under snow, the demand for power is likely to stay high during the month.