Rains damage houses, hit cattle in HP

Fifteen houses were damaged and twelve heads of cattle, including three cows, perished in flash floods caused by a cloud burst which wrecked havoc in Jajehar Village last night near Shimla, officials said.

Two houses were completely destroyed while 13 others suffered extensive damage but there was no loss of life, police said.

Prem Prakash Sharma, president of the village panchayat, said the houses of Roop Singh and Kalawati were totally destroyed and 13 other houses were badly damaged and declared unsafe.

The local Meteorological office has warned of thunderstorm and hailstorm in mid and lower hills tomorrow and predicted rains, thunder storm and snow in lower, mid and higher hills over next three days up to April 12.

The region experienced widespread rains, lowering the day temperatures and Dharampur was wettest in the region with 37 mm, whileShimla, Kandaghat and Kotkhai received 27 mm, 26 mm and 25mm rains, respectively, followed by Pachhad 24 mm, Pandoh 22 mm, Bhoranj 20 mm, Solan 18 mm, Dalhousie 17 mm, Arki 15 mm, Bijahi andUna 14 mm, Salooni 13 mm, Nahan 12 mm, Banjar 11 mm, Guler 10 mm, Baijnath and Kasauli 9 mm, Jhandutta and Chhatrari 8 mm, Kahu, Mehre and Pooh-7 each, Sunni Bhajji, Kangra Airport, Mandi Rajgarh 6 mm, Jubberhatti and Dharamshala 5 mm.

The day temperatures dropped marginally and Una in Shiwalik foothills was hottest in the region with a high of 32.4 degrees Celsius, while Sundernagar and Bhuntar received 29.3 degrees Celsius and 27.5 degrees Celsius, followed by Dharamsala (27.4), Solan (25), Nahan (24.9), Shimla (20.5) and Kalpa (13.2).

There was no significant change in minimum temperatures and Keylong was coldest in the region with a low of 3 degrees Celsius, whileKalpa and Manali recorded minimum temperatures at 5.6 and 6.6 degrees Celsius, respectively, followed by Shimla (8.9), Dharamsala (9.6), Nahan (11.5), Solan (12), Bhuntar (13.5), Bhuntar (13.5), Sundernagar (15.4) and Una (16.5).