250 roads in Himachal closed due to heavy downpour; Met issues orange alert

Shimla: Heavy rains have led to the closure of 250 roads in Himachal Pradesh and the local meteorological office has issued an orange alert of heavy to very heavy rainfall in isolated areas of the state, officials on Friday said.

The State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said that a total of 181 roads are closed in disaster-hit Mandi, 26 in Sirmaur and 23 in Kullu district, while 61 water supply schemes and 81 power distribution transformers were affected as of Friday morning.

The Met office has issued an 'orange' alert, warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall in isolated areas of Himachal Pradesh on July 21 and 23, and 'yellow' alert, warning of heavy rains at isolated places in the state till Sunday.

Light to moderate rain lashed parts of the state on Thursday evening. Jogindernagar received 40 mm of rain, Sarahan 38 mm, Jatton Barrage 28.6 mm, Kothi 28.4 mm, Shilaroo 26.4 mm, Murari Devi 26 mm, and Narkanda and Jot 23 mm each.

Since the onset of monsoon on June 20 till July 17, the SEOC said that around 112 people have lost their lives, including 67 in rain-related incidents and 45 in road accidents.

Around 199 people have been injured, while 35 are missing, the SEOC added.

Himachal Pradesh, which has witnessed 31 flash floods, 22 cloudbursts and 19 landslides this monsoon, has suffered losses of over Rs 1,220 crore, said the department.