People enjoy the season?s first snowfall in Narkanda, near Shimla, on Thursday. (PTI)

Shimla, Oct. 14: Heavy early snowfall in Himachal Pradesh has had mixed results, hurting crops and affecting tourists but at the same time reviving hopes of the tourism sector.

As the snowfall continued for the fifth day today, about 100 people were rescued from the closed 13,500-ft Rohtang Pass in Kullu district. Among them were seven members of a single family from Calcutta.

The group, including women and children and head of family Vishwanathan, was trapped in a Qualis about 4 km from Rohtang and is now safe, said Manali subdivisional magistrate Rameshwar Sharma.

Yesterday, 400 people were rescued from Rohtang by the Kullu administration.

The toll in the snowfall that started on Sunday touched 13 today after nine labourers were buried alive in a landslide at Dargu in Shimla district. Five were seriously hurt.

Parts of Himachal that normally do not receive snow before November have been swamped.

Kufri, a popular snow point 16 km from Shimla on National Highway 22, is one such spot that is shivering at 2.3 degrees Celsius, the lowest temperature there in three decades, after a four-inch snowfall the very first day.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded snow in October for the first time since 1973.

?An early snowfall is good for the next apple crop, as it will generate more chilling hours and the plants will bear more flowers,? said S.P. Bhardwaj, a senior scientist in Mashobra (Shimla) Horticulture Research Station. ?But it has damaged standing apple and other crops like barley in tribal areas,? he added.

About 90 per cent of apple plants in Kullu and Kinnaur districts have been affected. Horticulturists fear these may not bear fruit in the next season.

The hopes of apple growers in Kinnaur have been dashed as they were expecting a good price for the late apple crop.

?Early snowfall has given a big jolt to the local economy, which was largely hit by the short supply of trucks and the (recent) nationwide strike of truckers,? said apple-grower G.B. Negi of Sangla, Kinnaur. ?It has damaged standing crops and paralysed transportation as roads are blocked,? he added.

The early snowfall has also obstructed the Raid de Himalaya Motor Rally, which attracts enthusiasts from across the country every October.

The organisers were forced to cancel the rally midway as hundreds of participating vehicles were stranded in Lahaul and Spiti district. More than 40 vehicles are stranded in Jispa as Rohtang Pass has been closed since Tuesday.

Many participants, including actor-director Revathi, have taken shelter in army camps at Patsian in the district.

But hoteliers in Manali and Shimla are expecting good revenue from the early start of winter tourism that usually picks up in December.

The early snowfall has had a positive effect on the tourist season, which was badly hit in August by fears of a flash flood from the likely collapse of an artificial lake on the Pare Chu river in Tibet.

?We normally expect snow on the last day of December but this year, mother nature has blessed the state with snow in advance,? said Shimla hotelier Ajit Butail.