Himachal roads closed due to heavy rains

With heavy rainfall continuing, most roads in Himachal Pradesh remained closed to traffic on Saturday, stranding travellers and commuters. The worst affected were Sirmaur and Kullu districts.

The Mandi-Pathankot National Highway 20, which was closed for vehicles near Kotropi village in Jogindernagar tehsil, 220 km from here, was reopened partially, officials said, but vehicular movement beyond Ribba in Kinnaur district remained suspended since a large stretch of the Hindustan-Tibet Road was under debris owing to landslides.

"Most of the interiors of Sirmaur district have been cut off by road owing to landslides triggered by rains. The road link to towns in upper Sirmaur is likely to be restored within a day or two," a government official told IANS.

Officials said that the road network in the higher reaches of Kinnaur, Shimla, Chamba, Mandi and Kullu districts were worst affected and efforts were being made to reopen them.

"Monsoon was aggressive across the state during the last 24 hours. Precipitation occurred at most places with very heavy rainfall in Mandi and Sirmaur districts, a Met official told IANS.

He said that heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at some places in the state till Sunday.

Nahan in Sirmaur district recorded state's highest rainfall at 110 mm. Kangra town got 98 mm of rain, while it was 76.4 mm in Solan, 55.4 mm in Dharamsala and 12.6 mm in Manali. State capital Shimla got 40.2 mm rain.

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

The Tons, the largest tributary of the Yamuna that passes through the state, was in spate, posing threat to villages on the Uttarakhand-Himachal border.

--IANS

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