Heavy rains have thrown life out of gear in Himachal Pradesh with at least six casualties so far and hundreds of tourists stranded on the Chandigarh-Manali highway blocked due to flashfloods and landslides.
Himachal floods: 6 dead, 10 injured; hundreds stranded on highway blocked due to landslides
Shimla: Six people died and around 10 people were injured in heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh that triggered landslides and flash floods in several places in the State leading to several miles of traffic jams on the highway.
Onkar Chand Sharma, Principal Secretary, Disaster Management, Himachal Pradesh said on Monday that six people have died till now and around 10 people are injured. “A total of 303 animals have died. The complete report is still awaited,” he said. “The loss due to rain is expected to be Rs 3 crore. Meanwhile, 124 roads have been damaged which includes two national highways,” the senior Disaster Management official said.
Long queues of vehicles were seen on the Chandigarh-Manali highway at 7 Mile in Mandi as hundreds of commuters were stranded near Aut after heavy rains caused flashfloods and landslides on a stretch of the Chandigarh-Manali highway, blocking the road between Mandi and Kullu.
As per the inputs received, the landslide occurred in the area near 7 Mile on the Chandigarh-Manali highway, blocking the road and causing a massive traffic jam. Flash floods were witnessed in Khotinallah near Aut on the PandohKullu stretch due to a heavy downpour and the commuters have been stranded since Sunday evening. Officials of the Mandi administration said restoration work is underway and explosives are being used to blast heavy boulders blocking roads on the stretch.
There were landslides near Pandoh-Mandi due to the ongoing hill-cutting work that caused the roads to be blocked. The road clearance work had to be stopped last night due to persistent intermittent falling and shooting stones. The work was resumed this morning but it will take at least 4 hours to clear the road. Around 40 small cars and a bus carrying 55 students have been stranded due to a cloudburst near Prashar. There is a heavy rain alert from the IMD for the next two days. The Mandi-Joginder Nagar highway has been cleared,” Mandi ASP Sagar Chander said, according to ANI
National Highway-21, which connects Chandigarh with Manali, is expected to reopen for traffic in seven-eight hours, an official said. The commuters have been advised not to move towards Mandi until the road is opened, he added. “We have been struck since last evening as the road is closed leading to a traffic jam and a large number of vehicles are stranded on both sides of the roads at Aut and six mile,” said Prashant, one of the stranded commuters who was returning to Mandi town from Chandigarh.
Moderate to heavy rains have also lashed several parts of Kangra, Mandi and Sirmaur districts. Dharamshala in Kangra was the wettest with 106.6 mm of rain followed by Kataula 74.5 mm, Gohar 67 mm, Mandi 56.4 mm, Poanta Sahib 43 mm and Palampur 32.2 mm. The local MeT office has issued an alert for heavy rain, thunderstorm and lightning at isolated places on June 27 and 28 and thunderstorms coupled with lightning from June 27-29.