Himachal gets heavy rain, rivers in spate

The hills of Himachal Pradesh experienced heavy rainfall with Dharamsala town recording 159.6 mm -- the highest in the state, officials said here Sunday.

"Areas in Kangra and Sirmaur districts experienced heavy rainfall in the past 24 hours," an official from the Met Office told IANS.

He added that more showers could aggravate the situation in the state as most of the rivers and their tributaries are full and in spate.

Tourist towns of Shimla, Narkanda, Kufri, Kalpa, Kasauli, Chamba, Palampur and Manali have been experiencing rains. More rains are in store in the next few days, according to the official.

Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur, the district adjoining Uttarakhand, experienced 140 mm rainfall.

Shimla, situated at an altitude of 2,130 metres, saw 7.9 mm rain, while it was 8.2 mm in Manali, 3 mm in Kalpa and 27.2 mm in Sundernagar.

The official said that heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur at some places in the state till Monday.

"The water levels in the Beas and Satluj rivers have increased abnormally due to continuous rainfall. But the rivers are still flowing below the danger mark," a government spokesperson said.

A bridge located on a tributary of the Beas river near Solang, just 13 km uphill from Manali, was washed away due to flooding Saturday, the official added.