One killed in roof collapse, roads closed as rains wreak havoc in Himachal

Shimla/Una: One person died and two more were injured when the roof of a gurdwara collapsed in Sirmaur district and 130 people had to be evacuated to safety from a village in Una as Himachal Pradesh witnessed widespread rainfall.

Around 59 roads in the state were closed till Thursday evening and the state has suffered a loss of about Rs 320 crores during this monsoon season since June 24, officials said.

The Kasauli-Gharkhal-Dharampur road in Solan district was closed for vehicular traffic following a landslide near Datyar on Thursday evening. Traffic movement on National Highway 5 (Shimla-Chandigarh) was affected for some time due to the landslide debris as the Kasauli road is just above it, they said on Friday.

The roof collapse occurred at a gurdwara in Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur district on Thursday night. The deceased was identified as Milandeep Singh from Haridwar, Uttarakhand.

In Una district, about 130 people got stuck at a crematorium in Chadatgarh village following flooding in a nearby ravine. The villagers had to leave the burning pyre in the water and climb to nearby roofs to save their lives, the officials said.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Una Vishwadev Mohan Chauhan reached the spot and helped evacuate the villagers with the help of the fire department. He said all of them were rescued.

Light to moderate rains lashed several parts of the state since Thursday night, with Una recording 31 mm downpour, Solan 22.5 mm, Sarahan 22 mm, Jubbarhatti 20 mm and Bharmour and Mashobra 15 mm each.

The local meteorological office has issued a yellow warning of heavy rains, thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places in the plains, low and mid hills till July 9.