Orange alert for very heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh, 45 roads blocked

Shimla: The meteorological office here on Monday issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rain, thunderstorm and lightning over the next two days in seven districts of Himachal Pradesh.

A total of 45 roads, including 29 in Mandi, eight in Kullu, four in Shimla and two each in Kangra and Kinnaur districts are closed for vehicular traffic and 215 transformers are disrupted across the state, the emergency operation centre said.

The Met also sounded a yellow alert for heavy rain on July 30 and August 2 at isolated places in the state.

Monsoon activity is likely to intensify during the next 4-5 days with widespread precipitation. Spells of heavy to very heavy rainfall are likely to occur at one or two places in the districts of Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi, Shimla and Sirmaur on tuesday and Wednesday, it said.

The weather department also cautioned of possibility of landslides and flash floods in vulnerable areas of Kullu, Solan, Sirmaur, Shimla, and Kinnaur districts and damage to plantations and standing crops, vulnerable structures and 'kutcha' houses due to strong winds, and waterlogging in low-lying areas.

According to rainfall data in the past 24 hours till 5 pm, Ghamoor was the wettest in the state recording 100 mm rainfall, followed by Dhaulakuan (70 mm), Jubbarhatti (63.4 mm) Dharamshala (53.8 mm), , Dehra Gopipur (47.2 mm), Poanta Sahib (43.4 mm), Kufri (43.6 mm), Solan (42.4 mm), and Nahan (40.4 mm). Tabo in Lahaul and Spiti was coldest at night recording a low of 13.7 degrees Celsius, while Dhaulakuan in Sirmaur district was hottest during the day recording a high of 36.4 degree Celsius.

Official data recorded until this evening showed rain-related incidents have claimed 62 lives in the past one month since the onset of monsoon on June 27.

Himachal Pradesh has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 425 crore in the ongoing monsoon, according to the the state emergency operation centre.