Himachal Pradesh braces for extreme rainfall; red alert Issued for 4 district

Himachal Pradesh is set to witness extreme rainfall in isolated areas, as the State Meteorological Department has issued a red weather warning for Kangra, Kullu, Chamba, and Lahaul and Spiti districts for Friday.

Additionally, an orange weather warning has been issued for the rest of the state, due to which the state will experience heavy rainfall for the next few hours.

As many as 1,311 roads, including six National Highways (NHs), were blocked for vehicular traffic as a result of heavy downpours that continue to wreak havoc across the state.

According to the State Emergency Operation Centre, as many as 257 roads, including NH 03, are blocked in Mandi; 241 in Shimla; 239 in Chamba; 168, including NH 305, in Kullu; 127, including NH 707, in Sirmour; 50 in Solan; 60 in Kangra; 44, including NH 505, in Lahaul and Spiti; 39, including NH 21, in Bilaspur; 37 in Una; eight, including NH 05, in Kinnaur; and seven in Hamirpur district.

Furthermore, about 3,263 distribution transformers, including 725 in Shimla, 691 in Sirmour, 442 in Mandi, 428 in Kullu, 382 in Solan, 207 in Chamba, 129 in Hamirpur, 117 in Lahaul and Spiti, 77 in Kinnaur, 63 in Una, and two in Kangra district, also remain disrupted, affecting the electricity supply in many areas of the state.

Meanwhile, the state continued to receive extremely heavy rain in isolated areas along with very heavy to heavy rainfall during the past 24 hours. Naina Devi in Bilaspur received 198.2 mm of rain, which was the highest in the state.

Similarly, Rohru in Shimla district received 80 mm of rain, Dharamshala 52.3 mm, Una 49 mm, Bhuntar 47.7 mm, Nahan 46.7 mm, Bilaspur 40.2 mm, Kasauli 40 mm, Paonta Sahib 37.2 mm, Mandi 36.2 mm, Keylong 30 mm, Sundernagar 28.7 mm, Kangra 26 mm, Solan 25.8 mm, Palampur 24.2 mm, Kufri 24 mm, Shimla 20.6 mm, Chamba 17 mm, and Kalpa 7.4 mm.