Himachal Pradesh: Heavy rains & flash flood trigger landslides; alert issued

IANS photo

KULLU: Several parts of Himachal Pradesh witnessed landslides following heavy rainfall and flash floods in the region. Rescue operations to evacuate people were stuck in remote locations were on.

“We are trying to evacuate and rehabilitate people. I request people not to go to high reach areas and near rivers,”  Kullu Deputy Commissioner Yunus Khan said.

All the major rivers and their tributaries witnessed flood-like situation. Water level of Beas River rose abnormally in several places including Mandi and Hamirpur districts.

Indian Air Force (IAF) chopper rescued 19 people stuck in flashfloods in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) also rescued 20 stranded people from the Rohtang Pass, which saw about four feet of fresh snowfall on Sunday.

Upper Himachal including Kullu, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts witnessed snowfall.

Schools remained closed in Kinnaur, Kullu and Kangra districts, informed authorities

Roads in various parts of the state, especially in Kinnaur and Chamba districts, were blocked due to landslides, heavy rains and snowfall.

In Kangra, the Larji dam gates are being opened and, if the situation persists, the shutters of Pandoh dam can be opened at any time, officials said, adding that it had been raining continuously in Jawali town since Saturday evening.

Heavy loss to the crops were reported from several districts.

The state received moderate-to-heavy rainfall since Saturday, with Naina Devi town in Bilaspur district being the wettest with 178.2 mm of rainfall. Sarkaghat town in Mandi district recorded 137 mm of rain, followed by Mehre (132.6 mm), Manali (127.4 mm), Dharamshala (125.2 mm) and Kasauli (105 mm), the meteorological department said. Shimla received 47.1 mm of rain.

Kalpa was the coldest place with minimum temperature of nine degrees Celsius. In Dalhousie, the minimum temperature was 10.1 degrees Celsius, followed by Kufri (10.6 degrees), Manali (10.8 degrees), Shimla (13 degrees).

With agency inputs