Three killed as heavy rains trigger landslides in Himachal Pradesh

Shimla: Three persons were killed in landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains that lashed several parts of Himachal Pradesh.

The landslides blocked about 170 roads, including the Shimla-Kalka national highway for over six hours, across the state.

One person died in a landslide in Jogindernagar in Mandi district, while two more bodies were recovered from the debris of the HRTC building in Theog, which collapsed following a landslide yesterday.

The Shimla-Kalka national highway, which was blocked due to a massive landslip at Jabli early this morning, was partially opened after six hours and hundreds of vehicles, including trucks loaded with apple, remained stranded for more than ten hours.

About 20 houses, three shops and 15 cowsheds were badly damaged due to heavy rains in Bilaspur, Kangra, Chamba and Mandi districts, the State Emergency Response Control Room said.
About 50-mt stretch of Taklech-Dharkali road in Shimla has been washed away, while 72 roads in Mandi circle, 65 in Shimla circle and 32 in Kangra circle were blocked due to landslides, chief engineer of the Public Works department said.

Meanwhile, incessant rains continued in several parts of the state, and Kasauli and Dharampur in Solan district received 172 mm and 120 mm rainfall respectively, followed by Dehragopipur 118 mm, Nahan 104 mm, Solan 53 mm, Dharamshala 38 mm and Shimla 18 mm.

There was no significant change in the minimum and maximum temperatures, and Mashobra in the suburbs of Shimla was coldest at night with a low of 14 degrees Celsius, followed by Kalpa 14.4 degrees Celsius, Manali 14.6 degrees Celsius, Shimla 17.1 degrees Celsius and Dharamshala 17.2 degrees Celsius.

Bhuntar was hottest in day with a maximum temperature of 33.2 degrees Celsius.

The local MeT office has warned of heavy rains in mid and lower hills from August 7 to August 9 and predicted wet spell in the region for the next six days.