Monsoon fury: Landslides, flash floods leave trail of destruction in Himachal Pradesh

Shops were washed away, buildings collapsed, highways were cut off, and residential areas inundated as heavy rain triggered landslides and flash floods at several places in Himachal Pradesh, officials said on Tuesday.

The state reported 12 flash floods, two major landslides and one cloudburst since Monday evening. Nine flash floods occurred in the Lahaul and Spiti district, two in Kullu and one in Kangra, while a cloudburst was reported in the Chamba district.

No loss of life was reported in any of these incidents. However, one person drowned in Kangra district, while another died after falling from a height in Kinnaur.

A total of 680 roads were closed in the state as of Tuesday evening, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said. Of the roads closed, 343 are in the Mandi district and 132 in Kullu. Also, around 1,413 transformers and 420 water supply schemes were disrupted, the SEOC said.

The local meteorological office has issued an 'orange' alert for heavy rains in isolated areas in Mandi, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur districts on Friday, and in Kangra, Kullu, Mandi and Shimla districts on Saturday.

Strong currents of the Beas river washed away a multi-storey hotel and four shops in Kullu district's Manali in the early hours of Tuesday.

With the river in spate, the gushing waters entered the Alu ground in Manali, while the national highway connecting Chandigarh and Manali was damaged at several places.

Approximately 200 meters of the Manali-Leh highway was also washed away by the waters of the swollen Beas River, leading to the route being closed and tourists being left stranded.

The situation is also grim on Manali's Right Bank Road, which connects Kullu city. Two major sections of the national highway were washed away, while the Manali to Burua road was also wiped out near Old Manali.

''Connectivity to Manali from the right bank has been disrupted. So far, four shops, two restaurants and one house have been damaged since Monday,'' said Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) Manali Raman Sharma.

The level of the Beas river rose further on Tuesday after 20,000 cusec of water was released from the Largi Dam. Authorities have advised people to stay away from the riverbanks and landslide-prone areas.

In Kullu, water from the Ghanvi Khud stream entered houses, while two buildings housing about 20 shops collapsed in the Balichowki area of Mandi district late on Monday night. However, there were no casualties as the building was vacated beforehand.

According to the weather department, Naina Devi received 160.8 mm of rain since Monday evening, followed by Dharamshala 140 mm, Bhattiyat 125.2 mm, Chamba 124 mm, Kangra 110 mm, Manali 102 mm, Ghamroor 91.4 mm, Nagrota Suriyan 88.8 mm, Palampur 88 mm, Bhunter 87.2 mm, Keylong 87 mm, Kothi 85.8 mm, Chamba 74 mm and Guler 71.8 mm.

Between June 20 and August 26, at least 158 people have died in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh, while 38 have gone missing, according to the SEOC.

The state has witnessed 90 flash floods, 42 cloudbursts and 84 major landslides so far. It has incurred losses to the tune of Rs 2,454 crore in rain-related incidents, the SEOC data showed.

Himachal Pradesh received 753 mm of rainfall from June 1 to August 25 against an average of 584.2 mm, an excess of 29 per cent. The state has received 62 per cent excess rainfall in August so far.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)