Himachal: Heavy rain keeps state spinning out of gear, with 145 dead this monsoon

Heavy rains disrupted normal life in several parts of Himachal, prompting closure of schools and colleges in some areas of Una, Kullu and Mandi districts, officials said on 20 August, Wednesday.

Educational institutions were shut in Amb and Gagret subdivisions of Una as a precautionary measure. Similar orders were issued for Manali and Banjar in Kullu and for areas in Mandi district, following new incidents of flash floods, cloudbursts and landslides.

The body of a pilgrim, who died after being hit by a shooting stone while he was returning from the Kailash Yatra in Kiannur district, was also recovered on Wednesday, officials said.

On 19 August, Tuesday, Gaurav (31), a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, was injured in the incident near Ganesh Gufa. Upon receiving information, a police team reached the spot and launched rescue efforts, but he was found dead.

The body was shifted to the Regional Hospital, Reckongpeo, and handed over to family members after a post mortem, officials added.

In Kullu, flash floods in the Nallah in Shastri Nagar damaged houses and vehicles, triggering panic among locals. However, there was no loss of life, Kullu Municipal Council president Mahant Gopal Dass said.

On 18 August, Monday night, following incidents of cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides, a foot bridge in Silbhudhani village of Mandi district had been washed away, a statement issued by the sub-divisional magistrate said.

Bhubu, Kungri and allied streams in the district are also seeing turbulence, due to which schools in the village were asked to remain shut on Wednesday for the safety of the students, the statement further said.

A total of 368 roads in the state, including two national highways, were closed to vehicular traffic on Wednesday morning. Among these, 175 roads were closed in Mandi district and 126 in adjoining Kullu, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) announced.

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Due to landslides triggered by heavy rains, the Mandi–Jogindernagar road (National Highway 154) and the Aut–Sainj road (NH 305) were closed, it said.

Intermittent rains have been lashing several parts of the state since Tuesday evening, with Una logging the highest rainfall at 132.6 mm, followed by 68 mm in Bharwain, 63.4 mm in Dehra Gopipur, 60.4 mm in Palampur, 60 mm in Guler, 56 mm in Solan, 53.8 mm in Bilaspur and 48.3 mm in Jubbarhatti, the weather department said.

It said that Naina Devi had recorded 46.6 mm of rain, followed by 40 mm in Nadaun, 38 mm in Jogindernagar, 37.4 mm in Nagrota Surian, 36.4 mm in Sujanpur Tira and 35.8 mm in Kangra since Tuesday evening.

The local meteorological office issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rains in isolated parts of the state from 24 to 26 August. A yellow warning for heavy rains at isolated places in the state has been issued for 23 August.

According to the SEOC, 929 power supply transformers and 139 water supply schemes have been disrupted.

Since the onset of monsoon in Himachal Pradesh on 20 June, the state has incurred losses to the tune of Rs 2,281 crore till date from rain-related incidents, officials said.

The state has witnessed 74 flash floods, 39 cloudbursts and 73 major landslides so far, they said, adding that around 145 people have died and 37 are missing.

Himachal received 634.9 mm average rains during the current monsoon season from 1 June to 20 August, as against its usual average of 543.6 mm — an excess of 17 per cent.

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