136 roads blocked in Himachal as heavy rain threat continues till August 19

As many as 136 roads continue to remain blocked across Himachal Pradesh, while nine transformers and 242 water supply schemes remain disrupted after being damaged by torrential rains.

According to the State Emergency Operation Centre, 48 of the blocked roads are in Mandi, 37 in Kullu, 26 in Shimla, seven in Chamba, six in Sirmaur, five in Kangra, four in Una, two in Lahaul and Spiti and one in Kinnaur.

Of the nine disrupted transformers, six are in Chamba and three in Shimla. Of the 242 disrupted water supply schemes, 212 are in Mandi, 15 in Shimla, 13 in Chamba and two in Hamirpur.

Several vehicles were damaged in Shimla after stones fell from a cliff onto vehicles parked along the roadside near the fruit market in the Bhattakufer area. No loss of life or injuries were reported. Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Shimla Rural, Manjeet Sharma said a district administration team was at the spot to assess the situation.

Meanwhile, heavy rainfall is likely to continue across the state till August 19, for which the State Meteorological Centre has issued orange and yellow alerts.

For August 14, an orange alert has been issued for Mandi and Sirmaur, with very heavy to heavy rain likely at isolated places in these districts. The weather department has also warned of possible landslides and flash floods at vulnerable locations.

Yellow alerts have been issued for Kangra, Una, Bilaspur and Chamba, where heavy rain is likely at isolated places throughout the day. Light to moderate rain is also expected in other parts of the state.

While minimum temperatures are likely to remain normal, maximum temperatures may fall by 2°C to 4°C over the next few days.

The weather remained mostly dry across the state during the past 24 hours, with very light rain recorded at isolated places.

The maximum temperatures recorded were 26.4°C in Shimla, 28.9°C in Dharamsala, 28.6°C in Manali, 27.6°C in Solan, 34°C in Kangra, 34.4°C in Mandi, 32.5°C in Sundernagar, 34°C in Bilaspur, 32.4°C in Hamirpur, 21.9°C in Kufri, 25.4°C in Kalpa, 30°C in Nahan, 26.6°C in Keylong and 31.1°C in Chamba.

The highest maximum temperature in the state was 36.2°C, recorded in Una, while the lowest minimum temperature was 10.3°C, recorded in Kukumseri in Lahaul and Spiti.