Shimla: Rain in Himachal once again created havoc on Sunday. Due to the rise in the water level of rivers due to heavy rains and incidents of landslides at various places, four deaths occurred across the state, while property worth crores of rupees was damaged.
According to the information received from the State Disaster Management Authority, two deaths occurred in Shimla district on Sunday. Apart from this, a woman died when her house collapsed in Lajyani village under the Bhoranj sub-division of Hamirpur district, while her son buried under the debris was rescued by the villagers.
On the other hand, one person died after being buried under a tree in the village panchayat Gahra of sub-division Sarkaghat. Cloud burst on Sunday night in Kandiwala village of Burma Papdi Panchayat of Nahan assembly constituency.
Here buses, vehicles, and motorcycles all went into the swamp. About 40 children saved their lives by reaching the roof of a house. Here the road is cut from both sides.
Traffic has been made one-way on the Kiratpur-Nerchowk four-lane of Sundernagar due to landslides at various places. Similarly, there was sudden chaos in Bangloh and Grancha of Balh sub-division of district Mandi due to cloudburst on Sunday morning. Hundreds of bighas of land were washed away. The Balh Valley has been submerged.
Most of the link roads of the valley are also closed due to landslides. On the other hand, eight houses and dozens of cowsheds were razed to the ground due to cloudburst and landslides at various places in the Rewalsar area of Mandi on Sunday. There is news of six animals being buried in cowsheds. Debris has further increased in Rewalsar Lake.
Many bighas of land have been washed away in the landslide. All the roads connecting Rewalsar have been closed, so the traffic connection of Rewalsar with the district headquarters has been completely cut off.
15 houses are at risk due to massive landslide in Kothi Ghari. After vacating the houses, the families living in them have been shifted to the nearest government school. Due to heavy rains, 621 roads including two NHs have been closed in the state.
Shimla-Kalka Highway is completely closed for all types of vehicles at Chakki Mor. Apart from the roads, the power system in the state has also completely collapsed. More than two thousand transformers are lying closed in the state, due to which darkness has spread in many villages.
Rivers are in spate, water will be released from Pong
Due to continuous rains in Himachal for the last two days, the rivers of the state are in spate. Due to heavy rains, the water level of Pong Dam has also increased. As a result, continuous water will be released from Pong Dam by the BBMB administration from 8 am on Monday.
During this, 25 thousand cusecs of water will be released from 8 am on August 14, 40 thousand cusecs after 10 am, and 50 thousand cusecs after 12 noon.
Flood alert in 10 districts today
The Meteorological Department has issued a flood alert in 10 districts of the state for the next 24 hours. These districts include Shimla, Mandi, Kangra, Kinnaur, Solan, Sirmaur, Chamba, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, and Kullu.
An orange alert has been issued in Himachal Pradesh for heavy rains on Monday and Tuesday. After this, the yellow alert will continue in the state till August 17.
