Heavy rain claims three lives in Himachal

Heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh claimed three lives and hundreds remained stranded across the state after incessant rainfall triggered landslides and snapped road links, officials said Tuesday.

An elderly couple was buried alive in Netru village in Jaisinghpur sub-division in Kangra district early Tuesday when boulders smashed their house, police said.

In another incident, a nine-year-old girl in Majhoon village in Jaisinghpur was killed when her house was hit by a massive landslide.

The entire Kangra district has been experiencing heavy rain for the past two days.

"Ten panchayats in Jaisinghpur area have been badly affected as several houses were damaged. The entire sub-division has been cut off from the rest of the state," Sub-divisional Magistrate Vikram Mahajan told IANS.

He said dozens of small bridges and large portions of link roads have been washed away in the flash-floods in Jaisinghpur.

Meanwhile, the state experienced moderate to heavy rain with Palampur town in Kangra district recording the highest rainfall in the state at 159 mm. More rains are in store, the Met office here said.

"Precipitation occurred at most places in the state with very heavy rainfall in Kangra and Mandi districts in the past 24 hours," an official of the meteorological office said.

There were reports of link road closure in interiors of Shimla, Sirmaur, Mandi, Kangra and Kullu districts, hampering movement of traffic.

A government spokesperson said the Satluj, Beas and Yamuna rivers and their tributaries have been again in spate in Kinnaur, Shimla, Kullu, Mandi, Bilaspur and Sirmaur districts.

According to the Met office, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at some places in the state Wednesday.