316 roads closed for traffic in Himachal; orange alert issued for heavy rain

One national highway and 316 roads were closed for motor traffic in Himachal Pradesh as the state continued to be pounded by incessant rain on Monday.

In the afternoon, Shimla found itself covered under a blanket of fog, with visibility reduced to only a few metres. The local weather office issued an orange warning for heavy to very heavy rain at several places in three to five districts till Thursday.

The alert has been issued for Kangra, Mandi and Sirmaur districts for Tuesday, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, and Sirmaur for Wednesday and Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla and Sirmaur for Thursday.

Ghaghas village in Bilaspur district has received 61 mm of rain since Sunday night. Bilaspur has witnessed 50.2 mm of rain, Dharamshala 30.8 mm, Sarahan 30 mm, Murari Devi 28.6 mm, Shimla 27.2 mm, Jubbarhatti 25 mm and Neri 24.5 mm of rain.

Malraon received 19.2 mm of precipitation, Kufri 19 mm, Slapper 18.9 mm, Sundernagar 18.7 mm, Mandi 17.4 mm, Nahan 16.1 mm and Dehra Gopipur 16 mm.

Aut-Sainj road, a part of NH-305, was closed for vehicular traffic. Of the 316 roads closed, 181 were in Mandi district and 85 in the adjoining Kullu district, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).

So far, this monsoon, 119 people have died in rain-related incidents, while 36 remain missing. Seventy-nine power transformers and 491 water supply schemes have been affected, the SEOC said.

Since the onset of the monsoon on June 20, Himachal Pradesh has reported losses amounting to Rs 2,007 crore, washed away in 58 flash floods, 30 cloudbursts and 54 major landslides.

The state has received 509.5 mm of rainfall against a normal of 463.5 mm, an excess of 10 per cent from June 1 to August 11, the meteorological office said.