Shimla rain breaks 68-yr record

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 3

Shimla received record rainfall of 118.6 mm in the last 24 hours, which is the highest in the city in a day in the last 68 years.

“As per the rainfall recorded on Tuesday, Shimla witnessed 118.6 mm rain during the last 24 hours. This is the highest rainfall in the city in a day in the last 68 years as per the data available with our department since 1951,” Manmohan Singh, Director of local MeT office, said.

“The previous highest rainfall in Shimla was at 108.4 mm, recorded on July 15, 2005,” he said.

The heavy rain in Shimla was due the formation of tall cumulonimbus clouds and moisture incursion from both Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, he said.

He added that such heavy rainfall generally occurs when monsoon trough shifts from south to northward near to the foothills of the Himalayas as low-level convergence of south-easterlies and north-westerlies wind along the foothills coupled with vertical shear in wind and aerographic uplifting lead to intense precipitation.

Monsoon, which set in on June 27, remained active during the past 24 hours and heavy rain occurred at isolated places in the districts of Shimla, Bilaspur, Solan, Sirmaur and Una forcing the maximum and minimum temperatures to dip by 2 to 3 degrees across the state.

The state received 33 per cent excess rain from June 1 to July 3 as the pre-monsoon and monsoon showers lashed the state which received 153 mm of rain against the normal rainfall of 115 mm. Except Kinnaur with 40 per cent rain deficit, all other 11 districts recorded excess rain.

Shimla received 98 mm of rain in half-an-hour on Monday throwing normal life out of gear as gushing waters flooded roads, houses and shops and triggered landslides at several places.

The tall claims of the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) about Swachh Abhiyan proved hollow as roads were flooded with dirt and debris due to choked drains.

Three vehicles parked at the lawyers’ parking of the DC office were damaged as rain uprooted a tree which fell on the vehicle Tuesday evening.

Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, Amit Kashyap, who held a meeting with officials of various departments two weeks ago for making advance preparations to meet the monsoon challenge, on Tuesday directed the SMC to clear all culverts immediately.

He directed the Public Works Department to remove debris and muck from roadside and instructed the Forest Department to mark all dangerous trees so that they could be axed or pruned. He also issued instructions to the Electricity Department to ensure that no wires were hanging on roads posing threat to people.

Traffic blocked near hospital  

• Landslides occurred at many places in the town. A landslide near Kamla Nehru Hospital blocked the vehicular movement on the road. 
• Debris falling from under-construction building blocked the railway track between the railway station and bus stand. 
• Water entered some houses in the lower Khalini area due to flash floods triggered by heavy rain, while a few houses were damaged in Bangala colony of Engine Ghar in Sanjauli.