Warning of heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh puts 6 districts on alert

rchopra@tribunemail.com

Tribune News Service
Shimla, August 17

With the situation owing to the heavy rain already alarming in Kangra district, the Meteorological department has issued a warning of very heavy rain in six districts of the state over the next two days.

The administration in Kangra, Chamba, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Una and Mandi has been put on alert. The Met department has issued a warning of very heavy rain on Sunday in Shimla, Solan, Mandi and Kangra districts.

As a precautionary measure, the Kangra administration announced the closure of all schools and colleges on Saturday.

Most rivers are in spate and rainwater has flooded streets at Nurpur, Palampur and Dharamsala in Kangra district.

“According to the forecast, though the rain activity is likely to decrease significantly from August 19, there will be very heavy rain over the next 48 hours,” said Manmohan Singh, Director of the local Met Centre.

“The heavy rain is likely to block roads in Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Lahaul-Spiti, Mandi and Shimla districts,” the advisory read.

Most parts of Kangra and Chamba received heavy rain, resulting in substantial rise not only in the water level in the rivers but also in the local nullahs and water channels. 

Most towns received heavy rain on Friday night with Kangra getting 118 mm, Dharamsala 115.6 mm, Dalhousie 84 mm, Chamba 65 mm and Shimla 40 mm.

More than 200 roads, including highways, have been blocked at several places due to massive landslides triggered by rain.