India meteorological department (IMD) raised a red alert for the state. The rain has not stopped, cripping daily life and removing people from basic services.
Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (HPSDMA) blocked 259 roads and 614 transformers knocked. Water supply lines also took a big hit – 130 schemes stopped flowing overnight.
An official of the state’s emergency operation center (SEOC) said, “The monsoon is intensifying its grip, and the impact is visible in many districts. He said that the field teams are trying day by day to fix what is broken.
A resident, Sushil told Annie, “The market has been raining heavy since night and the water level of Beas river is increasing. Landslides are also happening in many places …”
Mandi tolerates brant
Mandi district is the worst affected. It blocked 139 roads alone and 314 power transformers were damaged – most of them in Gohar, Mandi II and J Nagar. The flood waters in Pandoh in Mandi made only cases worse.
Kullu, Sirmaur and Lahaul also reeling
Sirmaur district counted 92 water schemes, including 19 in 19 Nahardhar. There are 20 roads blocked in Kullu and there are 47 water schemes in Kullu, Largi and Annie sub-division. In Lahaul and Speti, the Spiel Valley noticed that 139 transformers failed in a blow.
An official of the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management said, “Our highest priority is reaches and restoring utilities in the worst areas like Mandi, Sirmaur and Kullu. The repair teams are being deployed with urgency.”
Landslides trigger highway chaos
On Monday, landslides and shooting stones closed the Chandigarh-Manali highway for hours. Traffic was stopped in Mandi near Thalot, Larji and 9 miles. Passengers had no choice but to wait for bulldozers to crawl or clean debris along the link roads.
In Thalout, falling rocks blocked the road from exiting the tunnel for two hours. A local official explained, “The highway was blocked at a distance of 9 miles late on Sunday night late on Sunday night due to landslides due to heavy rains. Until the morning hours were cleaned the debris, there were more landslides and incidents of shooting stones; hence it took time to restore traffic movement.”
Police warned of more falling stones near 4 miles, 7 miles and Dawada – when the hills are soaked, danger spots.
School closed, exam closed
With the hills being soaked and unstable with slopes, IMD issued an orange warning for Kangra, Mandi, Sirmaur and Shimla. Senior scientist Sandeep Kumar Sharma told ANI at IMD’s Shimla Center, “In the last 24 hours, most areas of Himachal Pradesh have recorded moderate rainfall. However, separate places in districts like Mandi, Kangra, Bilspur, Solan, Shimla, Hamirpur and Chamba experienced heavy shovers.”
He said, “The highest rainfall was recorded in Pandoh (Mandi district) in 130 mm, followed by Mandi Town 120 mm, Sunni 113 mm in Shimla, and Palampur at 80 mm.”
Rainfall in Kangra and Mandi shut down schools. Himachal Pradesh University took postgraduate examination.
On Monday, Mandi rained 73.4 mm of rainfall – more than 753% of normal. Solan got 47.5 mm, Hamirpur 39.4 mm, Sirmaur 32.3 mm and Shimla 23.7 mm.
As the rain clouds hang less, IMD has now pushed out a yellow warning for more heavy rains in Mandi, Shimla and Solan. The authorities urged people to stay at home until it was necessary.
They also want everyone to see an alert and stay away from risky roads. Repair teams extended – struggling with rain, stones and flooded gulals – to bring back roads, wires and pipelines to life.
