Heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms and hailstorms lashed several parts of Himachal Pradesh, uprooting trees and disrupting power supply as several areas in Shimla remained without electricity for hours.
Several trees fell on huts of the migrants due to heavy storm at night in Hamirpur’s Barsar.
An eight-year-old child, identified as Abhishek Kumar, died after a tree fell on a hut while he was sleeping inside. The child was taken to Barsar Civil Hospital, where the doctors declared him dead.
Gondla in Lahaul and Spiti received 1 cm of snow since Wednesday evening. Seobagh in Kullu district recorded the highest rainfall of 28.8 mm, followed by Lahaul-Spiti’s Kukumseri 23.8 mm and Narkanda 18 mm, the MeT office reported on Thursday.
Horticulture and Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi said hailstorms were witnessed in several areas, causing damage to crops like apple and other fruits, which were in flowering stage. The loss is being estimated, he added.
The minister said that roads have been blocked due to falling of trees. Some houses have also been damaged according to reports, said Negi, adding that restoration work is going on.
The weather department has issued an orange alert of hailstorm and heavy rain and snow at isolated parts of the state on Thursday and Friday and warned of thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds in 12 districts.
The thunderstorms and hailstorms on Wednesday uprooted trees, blew off the roofs of makeshift houses and caused power outages in several areas, including Shimla where power supply was restored this morning after nearly 10 hours.
Some vehicles were also crushed under trees in Shimla.
Mandi recorded 17.6 mm rainfall, Dharamshala 17 mm, Chamba 16 mm, Kalpa 15.6 mm and Kufri 15 mm while the tourist resorts of Kasauli received 14.4 mm rain, Dalhousie 10 mm, Shimla 9.6 mm and Manali 6.8 mm, the MeT office said.
There was a significant fall in the minimum temperatures. Lahaul and Spiti’s Keylong was the coldest at night with a low of 0.5°C. However, no major change was seen in the maximum temperatures. Una was hottest during the day, recording a high of 37.2°C.
The rain deficit during the ongoing pre-monsoon season from March 1 to April 17 is 38 per cent as the state received 93.2 mm of rain against normal rainfall of 151.3 mm.