249 roads closed, over 750 water schemes affected in rain-hit Himachal
Shimla: A total of 249 roads are closed for vehicular traffic in the Himachal Pradesh due to rain havoc, 207 of them in the landslide-hit Mandi district, officials said on Saturday. The Mandi to Dharampur via Kotli stretch of National Highway 3 (Atari-Leh) is closed for heavy vehicles following a heavy rain. The Mandi-Kullu stretch of the Chandigarh-Manali national highway was closed for about 10 hours following a landslide at Kainchi Mor near Pandoh dam in Mandi late Friday night. Vehicles from there were diverted to the alternate Katola-Kamand route.
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 after the stretch was cleared, said officials. The state has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 751 crore in the current monsoon, which hit the state on June 20. Around 463 power distribution transformers and 781 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 rain since Friday evening. Pandoh received 79 mm, Slapper 67.7 mm, Kothi 60.4 mm, Mandi 53.2 mm, Jogindernagar 53 mm, Bhunter 47.6 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 gusty winds blowing at speed between 39 to 48 km per hour smote Neri, Seobagh and Kukumseri.
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 monsoon, 92 people have died -- 56 in rain-related incidents and 36 in road accidents --, 172 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. The state, which has received 26 per cent excess rain, has witnessed 31 flash floods, 22 cloudbursts, and 17 landslides, according to the SEOC.
