Heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh; wet spell till July 4: MeT

Tribune Reporters

Shimla, June 30

Moderate to heavy rain lashed several parts of Himachal today, as southwest monsoon advanced. The local Met office issued an orange warning of heavy rainfall, thunderstorm and lightning in low and middle hills tomorrow and a yellow warning of a thunderstorm and lightning in mid and low hills from July 2 to 4.

Sihunta (Chamba): 154 mm; Nahan: 96.6 mm; Kangra: 83 mm

Sihunta in Chamba was the wettest with 154 mm of rain, followed by Nahan 96.6 mm, Kangra 83 mm, Dhaulakuan 75.5 mm, Berthin 64 mm, Nalagarh 62 mm, Kahu 49 mm, Tissa 45 mm, Gaggal and Saloni 44 mm each, Dharamsala 42 mm, Paonta Sahib 41 mm, Bilapsur 35.8 mm, Shimla and Sundernagar 34 mm each, Mandi and Jubbarhatti 28 mm each, Dharmpur, Sangrah and Kandaghat 25 mm each, Janjehli 24 mm, and Arki and Kasol 20 mm each.

The maximum temperatures dropped significantly and Bhuntar was the hottest at 30.2°C.

Dharamsala: Heavy rain lashed the Kangra valley today, bringing down temperatures. Mist prevailed in Dharamsala and in many areas of the city, visibility reduced drastically during day time.

Naresh Kumar, a local resident, said that it was after a long time that a misty weather was witnessed in Dharamsala. The temperature had risen to 38°C during the summer due scanty rain in April and May. Many tourists also enjoyed heavy rain, which brought back the fear of landslides in region.

There were incidents of small landslips hampering traffic for some time. The rains also cheered up farmers, as it marked the start of paddy harvesting in the area.

3 vehicles, 2 bikes buried under debris

• Chamba: Rain disrupted vehicular traffic due to landslides and falling boulders on various roads.
• Three vehicles — a pickup, and two motorcycles —were buried under debris at Haripur and Phulnu Tala.
• Crops in Sarol, Rajpura, Faulgat, Barour, Udaipur, Saroo and Cheema belts were damaged
• Three cowsheds were also damaged at Telka
• The Langera-Chamba road was blocked near Kaila