Landslips damage bridges in Shimla, Kinnaur, block roads

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 13

Shooting stones and landslides, triggered by incessant rain, wreaked havoc in Shimla and Kinnaur districts, damaging bridges and blocking roads at several places in the past 24 hours. However, no casualty was reported.

The Shimla-Kinnaur National Highway was blocked at Urni, Nugalsari and Pagal Nullah as shooting stones damaged a Bailey bridge at Urni in Kinnaur. Another landslide occurred at Nugalsari while a mudslide at the Pagal Nullah obstructed the traffic.

Roads closed 209

• Shoghi-Mehli road closed near Beolia in Shimla
• Shoghi-Mehli road to be closed to traffic from 5 am to 8 am and 6 pm to 10 pm tomorrow

However, all three stretches were restored in three or four hours, said Deputy Commissioner, Kinnaur, Abid Hussain Sadiq. He added that the highway was opened to traffic. Meanwhile, the two-way traffic was also restored at Jeori in Rampur.

Another landslide blocked the Shoghi-Mehli road near Beolia in the suburbs of Shimla. The road was cleared in half-an hour but a building in the vicinity of the landslide was endangered. Residents rued that the construction of six-storey buildings led to the landslide as the foundation was filled with mud instead of concrete.

Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, Aditya Negi, who visited the spot, said stones hanging at the site posed a threat to commuters and the road would be closed for traffic from 5 am to 8 am and 6 pm to 10 pm tomorrow so that the stones could be removed.

A bridge at Tangnu Janglik in Rohru collapsed due to heavy rain, following which the road was closed to traffic. As many as 209 roads, including 87 in Mandi, 82 in Shimla, 22 in Kullu, six each in Chamba and Hamirpur, five in Kullu and one in Bilaspur district, are closed.

The death toll in the rain-related incidents during the monsoon season has increased to 382 with one more death reported in Hamirpur district in the past 24 hours and the state has suffered a loss of Rs 1,016.52 crore.

Meanwhile, higher reaches and tribal areas, including Baralacha and Kunjum received another spell of snow while moderate to heavy rain continued to lash parts of the state. Manali was the wettest with 101 mm of rainfall, followed by Nadaun 88 mm, Kothi 77 mm, Dharamsala 57 mm, Karsog 38 mm, Guler 36 mm, Banjar 34 mm, Ghamroor and Nagrota Surian 31 each, Amb 24 mm, Kalpa 24 mm, Reckong Peo and Gondla 22 mm each, Keylong 21 mm and Palampur 20 mm.

The Met office has issued a yellow warning of a thunderstorm and lightning in four districts of Mandi, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur tomorrow. The minimum temperatures decreased by 1 to 2 degrees while the maximum temperatures rose by 2 to 3 degrees. Keylong was the coldest at 7.2°C while Una was the hottest at 34.4°C.

Loss to state

Total deaths 382

Total loss Rs1016.52 cr

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