795 roads closed; red alert for heavy rain in Chamba, Kangra today

As many as 795 roads, including two National Highways, remain closed for vehicular traffic across the state as torrential rain continue to wreak havoc in Himachal Pradesh.

As per the State Emergency Operation Centre, 289 roads, including the NH-3 are closed in Mandi district alone, the highest in the state. Also, about 214 roads are blocked in Chamba, 131 roads, including the NH 305 in Kullu, 41 in Sirmaur, 33 in Kangra, 26 in Bilaspur, 23 in Solan, 15 in Shimla, 14 in Una, five in Hamirpur, two in Kinnaur and one in Lahaul and Spiti district remain blocked for traffic, as a result of heavy rainfall.

Also, as many as 956 power distribution transformers, including 390 in Chamba, 172 in Solan, 130 in Mandi, 97 in Hamirpur, 52 in Kullu, 16 in Una, eight in Kinnaur, five in Shimla and two in Kangra districts also remain disrupted, affecting electricity supply in many areas of these districts.

Apart from this, as many as 517 water supply schemes, including 182 in Chamba, 148 water in Kangra, 95 in Hamirpur, 33 each in Mandi and Kullu, 21 in Shimla, three in Sirmaur and one each in Solan and Una districts, also remain disrupted, causing inconvenience to people.

The state is set to receive a very heavy spell of rainfall on August 26 as the state’s Meteorological Department has issued a red weather warning for Chamba and Kangra districts. It has issued an orange weather warning for Kullu and Mandi districts and yellow weather warning for Una, Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Lahaul and Spiti districts. As a precautionary measure, many districts, including Mandi, Una, Chamba, BIlaspur and in Kullu, Manali and Banjar subdivisions in Kullu, have announced to keep the educational institutions in their respective districts closed for Tuesday.

The department has also issued a yellow weather warning for the state till August 31, resulting in a few spells of very heavy to heavy rainfall in isolated areas of the state.

Kahu village in Bilaspur district received the highest 190 mm of rain, followed by Barthin, also in Bilaspur (156.4 mm), Bilaspur (140.8 mm), Dharamsala (87.4 mm), Sundernagar (84.2 mm), Una (80.8 mm), Chamba (67 mm), Palampur (64.5 mm), Kangra (61.6 mm), Mandi (49 mm), Manali (37 mm), Keylong (30 mm), Kufri (24.6 mm), Bhuntar (23.8 mm), Shimla (21.3 mm) and Solan (17.2 mm).