Cloudburst hits Himachal Pradesh's Rampur, 496 roads closed as rain lashes state

Shimla: Intermittent rains lashed parts of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday, while Rampur in Shimla witnessed a cloudburst that triggered flash floods in the area.

Landslides in several parts of the state led to the closure of 496 roads, including three national highways.

The cloudburst at Darshal in Rampur area of Shimla district late on Wednesday night led to a flash flood in the Teklech market, but no casualty was reported as the nearby houses were evacuated in view of the threat, officials said.

A total of 496 roads, including the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway (NH 21), Old Hindustan-Tibet Road (NH 05) and Aut-Sainj road (NH 305) were closed for vehicular traffic following landslides.

Of these, 278 were blocked in Mandi district while 118 roads were closed in the adjoining Kullu district on Thursday as per the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).

The meteorological office on Thursday issued an orange alert of heavy to very heavy rains at isolated places in Una, Kangra, Mandi, Solan and Sirmaur districts on Sunday and in Una, Bilaspur, Kangra, Kullu and Mandi on Monday.

Moderate to heavy rain continued to lash parts of the state. Naina Devi received 92.6 mm of rain since Wednesday evening, followed by Raipur Maidan 81.6 mm, Pachhad 75.1 mm, Olinda 67.7 mm, Kangra 62.5 mm, Dharamshala 42.5 mm, Nahan 32.6 mm, Kasauli 32.5 mm and Dehra Gopipur 31.4 mm.

Around 108 people have died in rain-related incidents thois monsoon so far, while 36 are missing. Additionally, 1,120 transformers and 245 water supply schemes have been affected, the SEOC said.

Since the onset of monsoon on June 20, Himachal Pradesh has incurred losses totalling Rs 1,905 crore. The state has witnessed 58 flash floods, 28 cloudbursts and 51 major landslides so far.