Met office warns of extremely heavy rain in 7 Himachal Pradesh districts

The meteorological department here has issued a "red" alert for seven districts in Himachal Pradesh, warning that extremely heavy rainfall is likely to continue on Sunday.

Six underconstruction houses were damaged in a landslide following rains in the Kasauli area of Solan district on Saturday morning, but no casualty was reported. The district administration has shifted the labourers to safe places.

Landslides and flash floods blocked several roads in Shimla, Sirmaur, Lahaul and Spiti, Chamba and Solan districts.

The Manali-Leh national highway was blocked following the flooding of the Teiling nallah, about a kilometer away from the Atal Tunnel in Rohtang. Roads were also blocked following flash floods in the Madrang nallah and Kala nallah in Udipur in Lahaul and Spiti district.

Commuters, including those travelling by a Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus, were stranded about five kilometres from Gramphu in the Lahaul sub-division of Lahaul and Spiti as the road was washed away in flash floods.

There was one-way traffic on some stretches of the Shimla-Kalka national highway (NH-5) following incidents of landslide and rocks falling on the Kandaghat-Parwanoo stretch.

Under the influence of an active Western Disturbance, intense spells of extremely heavy rainfall are likely at isolated places in Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Una, Hamirpur and Bilaspur districts on Sunday as well, the Met office said in a statement.

A "red" alert implies the possibility of more than 204 mm of downpour in a day.

An "orange" warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall has also been issued for Shimla, Sirmaur, Solan and Lahaul and Spiti. The Met office has forecast a wet spell in the state till July 13.

It has also cautioned about the possibility of flash floods along water bodies in Kangra, Chamba, Shimla, Mandi, Kullu, Sirmaur, Solan and Una districts, and a disruption of water, power and communication facilities in the low and mid hills.

Landslides, flash floods, mudslides and increased runoffs in rivers and nallahs are likely and there could be occasional reduction in visibility due to heavy rainfall.

A number of rivers were reported to be flowing above the danger mark. A total of 133 roads in the hill state are closed for vehicular traffic.

The Kullu district administration has postponed the Shrikhand Mahadev Yatra till July 11 and asked the pilgrims not to trek in rain.

A 33-year-old pilgrim from Madhya Pradesh trekking to Shrikhand Mahadev, considered to be the abode of Lord Shiva, has died in this Himachal Pradesh district, officials said on Saturday.

Amar Moeda died during the trek on Friday. The cause of the death will be known after post-mortem, Deputy Commissioner (Kullu) Ashutosh Garg said.

The yatra started on Friday (July 7) and is scheduled to conclude on July 20. The 35-kilometre trek starts from Jahu in Nirmand.

The trek to Shrikhand Mahadev is considered to be among the toughest pilgrimages in India. The 72-foot-tall Shivalingam, where the devotees pay their obeisance, is located at an altitude of 17,000 feet.

So far, Himachal Pradesh has suffered a loss of Rs 362 crore during this monsoon season, according to the state emergency operation centre. Water supply to the capital city of Shimla was hit due to turbulence in the water sources.

Moderate to heavy rains continued to lash several parts of the state. Nahan received 94 mm rain, followed by Shimla (73 mm), Dhaulakuan (62 mm), Una (55 mm), Mashobra (48 mm), Solan 41.5 (mm), Chamba (34.5 mm), Dharampur (34 mm), Kufri (32 mm), Dalhousie (31 mm), Dharamsala and Kangra (28 mm each), Keylong and Kasauli (26 mm each), Kukumseri (25 mm) and Manali (24 mm).