One person was killed in a cloudburst triggered by heavy rain in the Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday. Officials said that 32 roads in the district were closed due to the bad weather, adding to a total of 53 roads affected across the state.
A cloudburst at Pardoni village led to the death of a person identified as, Rangi, while shops and other infrastructure were damaged after four watermills collapsed in the Amboya area of the Poanta subdivision in the district, Sirmaur Deputy Commissioner Sumit Khimta told PTI.
He also said several villages were cut off after the Tok Nagla bridge collapsed, and the Yamuna River's water level rose. Educational institutions in Poanta Sahib and Shallai were closed for a day due to the poor weather.
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The meteorological department noted that Dhaulakuan in Sirmaur received the highest rainfall at 301.5 mm, followed by Poanta Sahib with 165.6 mm, and Renuka with 100 mm. Kukumseri in Lahaul and Spiti recorded the lowest temperature at 10.4°C, while Una was the warmest at 33.2°C.
State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) added that 32 roads were closed in Sirmaur, 10 in Kangra, eight in Mandi, two in Kullu, and one in Shimla district. Additionally, there were reports of rain and erratic power supply in several areas, which included Shimla and Hamirpur districts.
IMD Issues 'Orange Alert' On Thursday
The local weather office issued an 'orange' alert for heavy rain in isolated areas of the state on Thursday and a yellow warning for thunderstorms and lightning on Friday. Flash flood risks were also reported for Shimla, Sirmaur, Kangra, Chamba, Solan, Kullu, and Mandi until Friday.
A local from Shimla told PTI that people including school-children and office-goers experienced inconvenience during the morning hours as dense fog engulfed the areas amid rains.
The local meteorological office also said that the rain deficit in the current monsoon season was 19 per cent where Himachal Pradesh received 590.4 mm of rainfall against a normal of 729.5 mm.
Officials reported that 185 people have died in rain-related incidents since the monsoon began, and 28 remain missing, with losses amounting to Rs 1,332 crore.