2 National Highways Among 197 Roads Shut In Himachal Due To Heavy Rain

A total of 197 roads, including two national highways, in Himachal Pradesh were closed following landslides and flash floods triggered by heavy rain over the past week, officials said on Monday.

Several areas in Una district were waterlogged while flash floods and landslides were reported in Chamba, Mandi, Kinnaur, Shimla, Sirmaur and Solan districts, they said.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri visited the flood-hit areas in Haroli, his home constituency in Una, where three girls were swept away on Sunday and industrial units and other utilities suffered losses.

The sudden rise in the discharge of water in Hum Khud (nullah) damaged several houses, factories, roads and power and water supply. Repair work is in full swing, Agnihotri said.

According to the officials, 110 people were killed in rain-related incidents and the state suffered losses of about Rs 1,004 crore between June 27 and August 12.

The State Emergency Operation Centre said 66 roads were closed in Shimla, 58 in Sirmaur, 33 in Mandi, 26 in Kullu, five each in Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti, and four in Kangra.

It said that 221 power and 143 water supply schemes were also disrupted on Monday.

The regional meteorological office has issued a ‘yellow’ alert for heavy rain in isolated parts of the state till Saturday and also warned of low to moderate risk of flash floods in parts of Chamba, Kinnaur, Sirmaur and Shimla districts till Tuesday.

Since Sunday evening, Nagal dam has recorded 115 mm of rainfall, followed by 87 mm in Kasauli, 56 mm in Una, 82.2 mm in Naina Devi, 79 mm in Olinda, 75.4 mm in Jatton barrage, 72.5 mm in Nadaun, 62 mm in Paonta Sahib, 60.6 mm in Sujanpur Tira and 56.5 mm in Dhaulakuan, the weather office said.

Rescue operations are underway to trace about 30 people who went missing after the July 31 flash floods in Kullu, Mandi and Shimla but there has been no major success so far, the officials said.

So far, 28 bodies have been recovered, they said.

Kukumseri in Lahaul and Spiti was the coldest place in the state with a night temperature of 11.3 degrees Celsius while Hamirpur was the hottest with a maximum temperature of 33.6 degrees.