Yellow alert for thunderstorm and lightning in nine districts of Himachal, 824 roads closed

 

Himachal Pradesh/Shimla: The effect of monsoon is still continuing in Himachal Pradesh and heavy rains in many parts of the state are affecting life. On Sunday, it rained during the day in the capital Shimla and other areas, while light snowfall in the high mountain areas has made the weather slightly cold in the hilly areas. The Meteorological Center Shimla has issued a yellow alert for thunderstorm and lightning in nine districts Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur for Monday. At the same time, an orange alert for heavy rain with thunder was declared in nine districts and a yellow alert in three districts on Sunday night.

According to the department, light to moderate rain is expected in most parts of the state from September 9 to 13, although no warning has been issued during this period. In the last 24 hours, the pace of monsoon remained slow and only light to moderate rain was recorded at some places. Pachhad in Sirmaur recorded the highest rainfall of 40 mm, Manali 24, Naina Devi and Dhaulkuan 16-16, Keylong 15, Bharvi 14 and Nahan 13 mm.

Continuous rain has worsened the condition of roads in the state. According to the State Emergency Operation Center, two national highways and 824 roads were closed till Sunday evening. Kullu district is the worst affected where NH-3 and NH-305 are blocked and 225 roads are blocked. 191 roads are blocked in Mandi, 146 in Shimla, 88 in Chamba, 44 in Kangra and 36 in Sirmaur, due to which traffic has been completely affected. The problems of gardeners have increased due to the closure of roads in apple-rich areas of Upper Shimla. 45 connecting roads in Rohru, 24 in Kotkhai and 17 in Kumarsen of Shimla district are closed, due to which the apple consignment is not able to reach the mandis on time and the season has been directly affected. The administration is engaged in restoration work.

Electricity and water supply have also been badly affected. 1480 transformers have stopped working in the state, including 811 in Kullu alone. 202 transformers in Mandi, 171 in Chamba, 145 in Shimla and 142 in Lahaul-Spiti have gone bad. Similarly, 336 drinking water schemes are stalled, including 130 in Shimla, 79 in Mandi, 63 in Kullu and 42 in Chamba.

So far in this monsoon season, 366 people have lost their lives, 41 people are missing and 426 are injured. According to district wise figures, 59 deaths have been recorded in Mandi, 50 in Kangra, 43 in Chamba, 39 in Shimla, 38 in Kullu, 28 in Kinnaur, 26 in Solan, 22 in Una, 18 each in Bilaspur and Sirmaur, 16 in Hamirpur and 9 in Lahaul-Spiti. 1991 animals and more than 26 thousand poultry birds have also died due to rain.

So far 6271 houses have been damaged due to heavy rains, out of which 1194 have collapsed completely. Apart from this, 460 shops and 5284 cattle sheds have also collapsed. According to preliminary assessment, public property has suffered a loss of Rs 4080 crore. This includes a loss of Rs 2743 crore to the Public Works Department, Rs 2518 crore to the Water Power Department and Rs 139 crore to the Energy Department.

The series of natural disasters also continues in this monsoon. So far 136 landslides, 95 flash floods and 45 cloudburst incidents have been recorded. Lahaul-Spiti has suffered the most with 28 landslides and 56 flash floods while Mandi district has been the worst affected with 19 cloudburst incidents.