Monsoon arrives in Himachal, Met Dept forecasts heavy rainfall for four days

Shimla, June 24

Heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning have caused substantial damage at different places in the state in the past 24 hours. The Meteorological Department today confirmed the arrival of the south west monsoon in the state.

It predicted heavy rainfall in Sirmaur, Solan, Shimla, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur, Kangra and Mandi districts from June 24 to 27 and very heavy rain on June 25 and 26.

The Met Department said that the monsoon advanced in most parts of the state on Saturday after heavy rainfall was reported from different places on the intervening night of June 23 and June 24. Different areas in the state witnessed heavy rainfall during early morning hours. Kataula in Mandi district registered the highest rainfall of 163 mm, followed by Sinhuta (160 mm), Kasauli (145 mm), Gaggal (143 mm), Shimla (99 mm), Jubbar-Hatti (77 mm), Pandoh (74 mm), Sundernagar (70 mm), Renukaji (67 mm), Pachhad (65 mm), Theog (60 mm), Kandaghat (59 mm), Mandi (58 mm), Nagrota Suriyan (56 mm), Bhoranj and Mashobra (52 mm each), Kufri (51 mm) and Dalhousie (49 mm).

Last year, the monsoon had arrived in the state on June 29. The average date of the monsoon arrival in Shimla is June 24. The earliest onset of the monsoon in the state was recorded on June 9 in 2000 and it had arrived with maximum delay on July 5 in 2010, as per the Met records.

The Met Department predicted widespread light to moderate rainfall with occasional heavy rainfall in the state for three or four more days after June 27. It issued an advisory stating that there may be traffic congestion due to fog and heavy rainfall would cause water-logging in plains.

Meanwhile, waters from an overflowing nullah that was breached due to heavy rainfall damaged four vehicles and one house in Krishna Nagar area of Shimla. However, no loss of human life was reported.

As many as 18 roads remained closed in Seraj subdivision of Mandi district. The Chamb to Kujabalh road in Barsar subdivision of Hamirpur district and the main road in Thalout subdivision of Kullu district remained closed due to heavy rainfall.

In Shimla district, the National Highway-5 remained closed due to a landslide in Theog subdivision. Two roads each in Solan and Sirmaur districts also remained closed due to rainfall.

Electricity supply to remain suspended

State power board has said that due to maintenance work on the 11 KV HT Feeder LT lines and distribution transformers and the 630 KVA Himland Transformer, the electricity supply would remain suspended in New Flowerdale, Ellerslie, Armsdale, Chhota Shimla, Yojana Bhawan car parking, New Himrus Bhawan, Himland, Shivpuri etc. from 10 am to 5 pm on June 25.