Himachal rains: Cloudbursts in Mandi, Chamba; woman swept away in Hamirpur

Shimla: Amid a red alert for extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in three out of 12 districts in Himachal Pradesh, cloudbursts were witnessed in Mandi and Chamba districts on Sunday but no casualty was reported, said officials.

Since the onset of monsoon on June 20, the state has reported 78 deaths, of which 50 were linked to rain-related incidents such as cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides.

The MeT office issued a red alert for very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in Kangra, Sirmaur and Mandi districts on Sunday. Besides, an orange warning was sounded for heavy to very heavy rainfall in seven other districts, excluding the tribal districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti.

Pedestrian bridges were washed away in Kugdi and Kotarang drains and about 50 bigha of private land in Kotarang village adjacent to the drain was swept away in Mandi, the officials said.

While another cloudburst occurred in Churah of Chamba on Sunday morning and flash floods in Kanghela drain washed away a newly constructed bridge, cutting off four panchayats from the main road.

Meanwhile, a 29-year-old migrant woman was swept away in Barsar area of Hamirpur district as the water level in Shukra Khad rose. The woman, identified as Kiran from Bihar, used to work at a crusher unit.

She was washing utensils outside her house when the floods swept her away, the officials said, adding that search and rescue operations are underway to trace her.

Swan river overflowed after heavy rain in Una which received over 110 mm of rains since Saturday evening. There are reports of water damaging a petrol pump in Ghaluwal, and entering few houses in Dhalwal in Una district.

The district administrations of Kangra, Mandi and Sirmaur have been on alert following the red warning.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Saturday said the state government was prepared to deal with the situation. "We are ready," he said.

According to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), the estimated losses due to the rains so far stand at around Rs 572 crore, though the chief minister maintained the figure was close to Rs 700 crore as data was still being compiled.

Reports of damage to link roads and small bridges being washed away following a cloudburst in the Swad nallah (drain) in Shilbhadani village of the Padhar area in Mandi district have been received. However, no loss of life has been reported so far.

A total of 243 roads are closed in the state of which 183 are in Mandi district alone while 241 transformers and 278 water supply schemes have been affected across the state, the SEOC said.

Rains have continued in several parts of the state since Saturday evening.

Una recorded 110.2 mm of rainfall, followed by Nagrota Suriyan (102.4 mm), Guler (62.4 mm), Dharamshala (61.1 mm), Kataula (40.3 mm), Ghamroor (40 mm), Berthin (38.4 mm), Mandi (36.2 mm), Sujanpur Tira (36 mm), Barari (35.6 mm), Nadaun (30 mm) and Kahu (22.2 mm).

The MeT office has warned of moderate to high flash flood risk in parts of Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur districts over the next 24 hours.

It also cautioned against possible landslides, flash floods, waterlogging, and damage to vulnerable structures, crops and essential services. People have been advised to stay away from water bodies and avoid vulnerable areas.

Meanwhile, the search for 31 missing persons is underway in Mandi district, which bore the brunt of destruction following 10 cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides on July 1. Fourteen bodies have been recovered so far, the officials said, adding that sniffer dogs and modern technology have been deployed in the operation.