396 roads closed, houses damaged: Flash floods, landslides wreak havoc in Himachal Pradesh

Shimla: Cloudbursts and flash floods in several districts of Himachal Pradesh caused massive destruction, with 396 roads closed for traffic, houses damaged, vehicles washed away and some panchayats in Shimla cut off.

No loss of life has been reported, officials said on Thursday.

Since Wednesday night, Kandaghat has received 100 mm of rainfall, Jatton Barrage 87 mm, Una 85.4 mm, Solan 81.4 mm, Olinda 76 mm, Shillaroo 73 mm, Shimla 69 mm, Kufri 66 mm, Jubbarhatti 65.2 mm, Kasauli 62 mm, Kothi 61.2, Murrai Devi 51.8 and Dharampur 50.2 mm.

The local meteorological office has issued a 'yellow' alert, warning of heavy rain at isolated places in the state till August 20.

Cloudbursts and flash floods hit several places in Shimla, Kullu, Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti districts on Wednesday evening.

A cloudburst hit Shrikhand hill in Nirmand subdivision and Bathadh hill of Tirthan valley in Banjar subdivision in Kullu district and another struck Nanti in Shimla's Rampur area on Wednesday night.

Due to the cloudburst at Shrikhand hill, the Kurpan ravine was flooded and the Bagipul market was immediately evacuated by the administration. Some cottages on the bank of the Tirthan river were damaged and a few vehicles were washed away, the officials said.

Kullu Deputy Commissioner Torul S Raveesh said a team of the administration has been tasked with assessing the damage.

Some cottages have been damaged and vehicles washed away, but no loss of life has been reported so far, she said.

In Shimla, road connectivity to Ganvi, Kiao, Koot, Kinfi, Kutru, Suru, Roopni, Khanidhar and Kheuncha in three gram panchayats of Ganvi, Kiao and Koot was cut off, according to the officials.

Reports of damage to sheds, houses and shops of 26 people in the Ganvi area have been received. A police post and a store of the electricity department were also damaged, the officials said.

At many places, cars were buried under the debris.

To prevent any untoward incident, educational institutions in the Jubbal sub-division of Shimla have been closed due to the rain and landslides, the officials said.

The road leading to Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) was closed due to a landslide and uprooted trees.

Reports of uprooting of trees also came in from some other parts of Shimla city.

In Lahaul and Spiti, Karpat, Changut and Udgos Nala of the Mayad valley were affected by the flash floods.

The Army rescued four people, including one injured, in Kinnaur district after flash floods hit the higher reaches of Rishi Dogri valley on Wednesday evening.

A total of 396 roads, including National Highway 305 (Aut-Sainj road), have been closed for traffic. Of these, 173 roads are in Mandi district and 71 in Kullu, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).

It said 1,593 power supply transformers and 178 water supply schemes have been disrupted in the state.

From June 20, when the monsoon arrived in Himachal Pradesh, to August 13, the state incurred losses to the tune of Rs 2,031 crore, the officials said.

As many as 126 people have died in rain-related incidents and 36 are missing. The state has witnessed 63 flash flood incidents, 31 cloudbursts and 57 major landslides so far, they said.