Kangra received highest rainfall in Himachal this season

Shimla, October 1

Kangra received the highest rainfall in Himachal Pradesh this monsoon season, the Meteorological Centre here said on Monday.

The Southwest Monsoon withdrew from Himachal and remaining parts of Rajasthan, entire Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, West Uttar Pradesh, some parts of East Uttar Pradesh, West and East Madhya Pradesh and some more parts of Gujarat and north Arabian Sea on Sunday, Met centre Director Manmohan Singh said.

Two spells of heavy to very heavy rain from August 13 to 14 and September 21 to 24 accompanied by snow in tribal Lahaul and Spiti district wreaked havoc in various parts of the state and threw normal life out of gear.

Himachal suffered a loss of Rs 1,479.29 crore this monsoon, a state official said.

The state bore a loss Rs 220.29 crore during heavy rains from September 21 to 24, whereas the rest of Rs 1,259 crore loss was incurred during the August 13 and 14 rains as several roads and power and water supply had been damaged badly due to landslides and flash floods triggered by heavy rains.

About 40 people also lost their lives during the monsoon, he added.

Kangra district received 2,122.8 mm rain from June 1 to September 30 which is 34 per cent more rain than normal, he added.

Apart from Kangra, seven other districts--Shimla, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kullu, Mandi, Solan and Una--witnessed above normal rain this monsoon, he added.

Una district experienced 1,374.5 mm rain this monsoon, which is 59 per cent more than normal, he said, adding that the entire Himachal received 917.4 mm rain which is 11 per cent above normal.

Besides Shimla witnessed 807.1 mm rain, (27 per cent more than normal), Bilaspur 1,210.8 mm, 38 per cent more than normal, Hamirpur 1,388 mm, 29 per cent more than normal, Kullu 775.9, 49 per cent more than normal, Mandi 1,353.3 mm (24 per cent higher than normal) and Solan experienced 1,110.8 mm rain (11 per cent higher than normal), he added.

However Lahaul and Spiti, Chamba and Kinnaur district received less-than-normal rain.

Lahaul and Spiti got just 263.4 mm rain as compared to normal 458.2 mm rain, which is less than 43 per cent, he added.

Similarly, Chamba got just 872.7 mm rain, which is 38 per cent less than normal, whereas Kinnaur witnessed just 180 mm which is 32 per cent less than normal.

Sirmaur district received 1,319.8 mm rainfall, which is almost same as normal, he added. PTI