Rains in Himachal lead to closure of over 140 roads

Shimla: Over 140 roads, including two national highways, are closed in Himachal Pradesh following landslides and flash floods triggered by rains in several parts of the state since the past week, officials said on Wednesday.

The local meteorological office has issued a 'yellow' alert for heavy rain in isolated parts of the state till Sunday and also warned of low flash floods in parts of Sirmaur district till Thursday.

Intermittent rains continued to lash parts of the state since Tuesday evening and Dharamshala recorded 40.2 mm of rain followed by Kangra (35.9 mm), Narkanda (23.5 mm), Brahmani (19.2 mm), Sujanpur Tira (16 mm), Bharari (15.2 mm), Palampur (14.4 mm) and Rampur (11.2 mm).

The State Emergency Operation Centre said 73 roads were closed in Shimla, 22 in Mandi, 20 in Kullu, 14 in Sirmaur, five in Kangra, three in Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti each, two in Chamba districts on Wednesday morning.

It said 209 power and 47 water supply schemes were also affected.

The rainfall deficit in the state during the monsoon that began on June 1 stood at 25 per cent till August 14 with Himachal Pradesh receiving 373.3 mm rain against an average of 497.2 mm.

According to the officials, 110 people were killed in rain-related incidents and the state suffered losses of about Rs 1,004 crore between June 27 and August 12.

The Public Works Department (PWD) suffered losses to the tune of Rs 437 crore.