Himachal Pradesh: 2 NH among 307 roads closed, orange alert for very heavy rains

Shimla: Moderate to heavy rains continued to lash parts of Himachal Pradesh, resulting in the closure of 307 roads, including two national highways on Sunday, officials said.

The local Meteorological office has issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rains in isolated areas of the state on Monday and Tuesday.

Since Saturday evening, several regions have experienced moderate to heavy rainfall, with Bharari recording 108.2 mm, followed by Murari Devi with 82 mm, Naina Devi at 74.4 mm, Malraon at 56.2 mm, Brahmani at 45.4 mm, Una at 38 mm, and Jot at 36.2 mm.

A total of 307 roads have been closed for vehicular traffic as of Sunday morning. The majority of these, 156 roads, are in the disaster-affected Mandi district, while 68 are in Kullu district, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).

Additionally, 284 power distribution transformers and 210 water supply schemes have been affected across the state, the SEOC said.

Since the onset of the monsoon on June 20 until August 2, the state has incurred losses totalling Rs 1,692 crore.

So far, there have been 101 reported deaths due to rain-related incidents, with 36 people still missing. The fatalities include 20 drownings, 19 deaths from falls, 17 deaths from cloudbursts, eight from flash floods, and five from landslides.

As many as 1,600 houses have been fully or partially damaged in the state. The state witnessed 51 flash floods, 28 cloudbursts and 45 major landslides, officials said.