Heavy rain triggers landslides, uproots trees

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 22

Heavy rain threw normal life out of gear in several parts of the state, triggering landslides, uprooting trees and disrupting power supply.

About six roads in the interior areas of Sirmaur were blocked due to landslides and a car was washed away on the Dadahu-Koti-Deman road. Hundreds of vehicles and HRTC buses remained stuck.

Heavy downpour in Renuka, which recorded 132-mm rain, caused landslides.

Himachal Road Transport Corporation officials said over 12 roads were blocked, but some had been opened.

Power supply was disrupted in the Sarahan area and could not be restored till evening. Tikker, Dharyar and Panva also witnessed power shutdown.

A tree was uprooted near the gate of the IGMC, disrupting the power supply. The stretch remained closed for a few hours and the supply was restored by evening.

The rain affected work on the Mandi-Kullu and Shimla-Parwanoo four-laning project. As many as 50 roads were blocked, mostly in Sirmaur and Shimla districts, PWD officials said. The Met department has warned of heavy rain at isolated places in the lower and mid hills on Monday, predicted rain and thunderstorm in the mid, lower hills and rain/ snow in the higher hills in the next six days.

Renuka was the wettest at 132-mm rain, while Baijnath, Dharamsala and Palampur recorded 125 mm, 105 mm and 77-mm rain, followed by Sarkaghat (73 mm), Jogindernagar (51 mm), Kandaghat (50 mm), Nahan (47 mm), Rajgarh (43 mm), Gaggal (39 mm), Manali (37 mm), Jubbarhatti and Dharampur (25 mm), Sundernagar and Hamirpur (20 mm), Kufri (19 mm), Solan (18 mm) and Shimla (15 mm).

The region has received 258-mm rain from June 1 to July 22, against the normal rainfall of 300 mm, witnessing a 14 per cent deficit. Barring Una, Kangra and Kullu received 29 per cent and 10 per cent excess rain.

The maximum temperature dropped marginally and Una was the hottest at 32.0 degrees Celsius, while Shimla was the coldest during the day at 20.8 degrees Celsius, while Keylong and Kalpa in the tribal areas recorded 25.0 degrees Celsius and 21.4 degrees Celsius.

Traffic hit on Pathankot highway

• Palampur: Vehicular movement on the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway remained suspended for three hours on Sunday following the uprooting of a tree near Maranda.
• Long queues of vehicles  could be seen  on both sides of the highway. The police had to divert the traffic via the Mehanja road. 
• Sources said since the PWD and the NHAI were at loggerheads over the administrative control of the highway, no representative from these departments was at the spot.
• Later, the Forest Department, with the help of heavy machinery, removed the tree and restored traffic.