Rains wreak havoc in Himachal, three killed

Heavy overnight rains triggered massive landslides and flash floods in Himachal Pradesh, leaving three members of a family dead and submerging a bus stand in Mandi district, officials said. Many buses and other vehicles were swept away in the floods in Mandi district where one person has been reported missing.

Officials said a house collapsed following a landslide in Bragta village in Mandi district, leaving two women and a child dead Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, Apoorv Devgan told PTI that three bodies have been recovered while two persons have been rescued.

The critically injured persons were rushed to the nearest hospital.

A flash flood struck the Dharampur area in Mandi district late Monday night, submerging the main bus stand and adjacent commercial establishments.

The floodwaters caused significant destruction to public infrastructure and private property, including the washing away of few Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses and damage to houses, shops in the vicinity and numerous vehicles parked in and around the area.

One person is reported missing in the flash flood incident. The search for the missing individual is currently underway. Shopkeepers and residents faced severe losses as floodwaters gushed into shops, damaging goods and infrastructure. Preliminary estimates suggest losses amounting to several crores.

Officials said the rains led to floods in Son and Bharand drains in Dharampur in Mandi district, resulting in flooding of a bus stand, damaging a workshop, pump houses, shops and over 20 buses.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who also holds the portfolio of Transport department, said in a Facebook post, ''Dharampur bus stand, over two dozen HRTC buses, shops, pump house and workshop has been damaged''.

In Shimla, which received 141 mm of rains in 12 hours since Monday evening, several vehicles were buried following a landslide near Himland in the heart of the city and the main circular road was blocked causing inconvenience to school-going children.

''It was raining heavily and around 1 am, we heard a deafening sound with trees and debris sliding down and immediately moved our vehicles to escape'', Gautam and Rahul Shukla, who were sleeping in their vehicle parked near Himland when the landslide occurred, said.

Reports of rains triggering landslides and uprooting trees in BCS-Vikas Nagar area, PMT colony, Jhanjheri and some other areas of the town have also poured in. Restoration works are underway, officials said.

Moderate to heavy rains lashed several parts of the state and Shimla received 141 mm of rain since Monday evening followed by Nagrota Suriyan 135.2, Bhattiyat 80 mm, Sundernagar 60.5 mm, Brahmani 54.4 mm, Guler 54.2 mm, Mandi 52.6 mm, Kangra 50.5 mm and Mehre Barsar 50 mm, the Met said.

Thunderstorms were witnessed in Shimla, Jubbarhatti, Kangra, Bhuntar, Jot, Murari Devi and Sundernagar while gusty winds with wind speed ranging between 31 to 37 Kmph lashed Bilaspur, Bajaura and Kufri, It added.

As many as 650 roads, including stretches of three National Highways namely NH 3 (Attari-Leh road), NH 305 (Aut-Sainj road) and NH- -503A (Amritsar-Bhota road) were closed in the state as on Tuesday morning.

About 1250 power transformers and 160 water supply schemes have been disrupted, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) as A total of 412 people have died in rain-related incidents and road accidents since the onset of the monsoon over the state on June 20 till date while 41 are still missing. A total of 232 people died in rain-related incidents while 180 were killed in road accidents.

Himachal witnessed 46 cloudburst, 97 flash floods and 140 landslides and so far, the state has suffered a loss of Rs 4,504 crore, the officials said.

The state received an average rainfall of 1010.9 mm during the ongoing monsoon season from June 1 to September 16 against the normal rainfall of 692.1 mm, an excess of 46 per cent.

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