Heavy rain lash several parts of Himachal

Heavy rain lashed several areas of Himachal triggering landslides in the interior areas of the state.
Dehra Gopipur recorded a maximum of 196 mm rain followed by Saloni (97), Naina Devi received (96),Kangra (89), Dalhousie (73), Dharampur (69), Sarkaghat (60), Chamba (56), Solan (53), Sundernagar (52), Una (48), Bilaspur (40), Kasauli (33) and Shimla (29), the Met department said.
The Dadahu-Renuka road in Sirmaur district was blocked due to a massive landslide near Giripul and traffic remained suspended for nearly three hours, Junior Engineer RP Singh said.
The road was opened after clearing the debris, he said.
The major roads in interior areas of Mandi, Kangra, Chamba, Bilaspur, Shimla and Sirmour were also blocked for sometime due to landslides at numerous places.

The rain caused marginal drop in temperatures with Manali recorded a low of 13 degree Celsius followed by Kalpa (14), Shimla (15), Keylong (16), Solan (18) Nahan and Bhuntar (20 each), Sundernagar (21) and Una (24).

The mercury rose by few notches in Una with maximum temperature recorded at 31.8degree Celsius followed by Bhuntar (27.8), Nahan (26.7), Sundernagar (25.9), Solan (22), Manali (20.2), Kalpa (20.9) and Shilma (18.8).
The MeT department has warned of heavy rain at some places in mid hills tomorrow and predicted rain and thundershowers at many places in lower, mid and higher hills over next few days.

The rains have reduced the monsoon rain deficit from June 1 to August 7 to 20 per cent. Solan, Shimla, Kullu and Kangra had excessive rainfal while rain deficit was zero in Mandi district, three per cent in Una and seven per cent in Hamirpur district, the Met department said.
The rain defict was 83 per cent in Lahaul and Spiti, 57 per cent in Kinnaur, 46 per cent in Chamba, 19 per cent in Bilaspur and 14 per cent in Bilaspur district, it said.