Over 250 Roads Including NH Closed, 780 Water Schemes Affected In Rain-Hit Himachal
Heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh have closed 252 roads, mainly in Mandi, including parts of two national highways. Restoration is underway, with diversions in place.
A total of 252 roads, including two national Highways, are closed for vehicular traffic in Himachal Pradesh due to rain havoc. Of the total, 205 of them are in the landslide-hit Mandi district, officials said on Saturday.
The Mandi-Kullu stretch of the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway was blocked near 4 Mile and Bindravani, as restoration work is ongoing. The road is expected to be reopened by Sunday morning, police said.
Small vehicles were diverted via the Chailchowk-Gohar-Pandoh and Kamand-Kataula and Bajaura routes, while heavy vehicles were halted at Nagchala and Jhiri, they added.
The Mandi to Dharampur via Kotli stretch of National Highway 3 (Atari-Leh) is closed following heavy rain.
The Mandi-Kullu stretch of the Chandigarh-Manali national highway was closed for about 10 hours following a landslide at Kainchi Mor and other places near Pandoh dam in Mandi district late on Friday night.
Commuters had a harrowing time as the traffic was stopped after debris and stones started coming down the road from the hillside. One-way traffic was opened after 10 hours when the stretch was cleared, said officials.
A groom and his procession on the way to the wedding venue were stuck following the landslide. The police called a taxi and took the groom out safely and sent him to the destination while the others accompanying him waited for the road to be opened.
The state has suffered losses of Rs 751 crore in the current monsoon, which hit the state on June 20.
Around 327 power distribution transformers and 787 water supply schemes are disrupted, according to the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC).
Moderate to heavy rain have lashed parts of Himachal, with Murari Devi receiving 126 mm of rainfall since Friday evening.
Pandoh received 79 mm, Slapper 67.7 mm, Kothi 60.4 mm, Mandi 54.2 mm, Jogindernagar 53 mm, Bhunter 49.6 mm, Bharari 40 mm, Sarahan 35 mm, Neri 34 mm and Sundernagar 30.4 mm.
Thunderstorms were witnessed in Sundernagar, Murari Devi Bhuntar and Kangra, while Neri, Seobagh and Kukumseri experienced gusty winds blowing at speeds between 39 to 48 kilometres per hour.
The local weather office has issued a 'yellow alert' for heavy rainfall at isolated places in four to ten out of 12 districts in the state till July 18.
Since the onset of the monsoon, 95 people have died — 56 in rain-related incidents and 36 in road accidents — 175 have been injured, while 33 are missing.
Search operations are still underway to trace the 27 who were washed away after 10 cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides wreaked havoc in various parts of Mandi on the intervening night of June 30 and July 1 and resulted in the deaths of 15 people.
According to the SEOC, the state has received 26 per cent of excess rainfall since June 28. Resultantly, Himachal has witnessed 31 flash floods, 22 cloudbursts, and 18 landslides.
Keylong was the coldest at night, with a low of 12.2 degrees Celsius, while Una was the hottest during the day, recording a high of 34.6 degrees Celsius.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
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