Heavy rains lash Himachal Pradesh; several roads, houses damaged

Shimla: Three vehicles, including three tractors, were washed away and several roads and huts were damaged as heavy rains lashed Himachal Pradesh on Thursday, officials said.

Sixty kuccha roads, seven concrete houses, 29 cowsheds and 10 huts were damaged in the state and the Hatkoti-Theog National Highway was blocked for five hours.

Heavy machinery sunk in a marshy area on the national highway, blocking it. These were lifted and traffic movement resumed, a revenue official said.

Five houses were damaged in Chamba district's Pangi area and 42 kuccha house, 10 huts and 17 cowsheds in Kangra district, the official said.

Three houses and seven cowsheds were damaged in Mandi, three cows died, and five cowsheds and 15 houses were damaged in Shimla district's Rohru area, 
Deputy Commissioner Rohan Chand Thakur said.

The damaged to public property is has been estimated at Rs 300 crore of which Rs 226.81 crore was incurred by the Public Works Department, an official spokesman said.

Heavy rains lashed several areas of state and Dehra Gopipur was the wettest in the region with 123 mm rains.

Guler recorded 69 mm, Bhoranj 63 mm, Kheri 55 mm, Dharamsala 54 mm, Nagrota Surian 48 mm, Palampur 37 mm, Amb and Saloni 34 mm each, Tissa 32 mm, Ghumarwin 31 mm, Naina Devi 26 mm, Hamirpur 23 mm, Nadaun 22 mm and Sujanpur Tira 20 mm rains.

The mercury rose marginally in lower areas of the state and Una recorded a high of 34 degrees Celsius followed by Sundernagar 32.4, Bhuntar 31, Dharamsala 28.6, Solan 28 degree, Nahan 26.3, Kalpa 23.6 and Shimla 22.9.

The minimum temperature at Manali was 9.6 degrees Celsius followed by Keylong 14, Kalpa 15, Shimla 16.8, Dharamsala 17.4, Nahan 19.1, Palampur?and Bhuntar 20, Solan 20.5 and Sundernagar 22.6 and Una 24.6.

The local MeT office has predicted rains and thundershowers in lower and mid hills and rain and snow in high hills over the next six days.