Rains force closure of 484 roads in Himachal Pradesh; forecast of heavy shower till August 30

A total of 484 roads, including two national highways, were closed for vehicular traffic in Himachal Pradesh as moderate to heavy rains continued to lash parts of the state, officials said on Sunday.

Of the roads that were closed, 245 were in Mandi district and 102 in adjoining Kullu. National Highway 154A (Chamba-Pathankot) and NH 305 (the Aut-Sainj road) are also closed, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) here said.

The road from Pathankot to the Mandi highway got choked between Kandwal to Jachh in the Nurpur area of Kangra district as it turned into a drain following rains, bringing traffic to a standstill for hours. The worst-hit stretch was near Chhatrauli, where waterlogging on a diversion created for an under-construction flyover halted traffic.

Water entered houses in Nagabari village in the Nurpur Assembly constituency following a flood in a "nallah" (drain) and the residents alleged negligence in highway construction for the chaos. They also alleged poor drainage planning.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Arun Sharma confirmed that water had entered several houses and said he was inspecting the affected areas. He added that National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams are on alert and traffic has been temporarily stopped to avoid casualties.

According to officials, a total of 941 power transformers and 95 water-supply schemes have been disrupted in the hill state.

The local meteorological office has issued a "yellow" warning for heavy rain in isolated areas of two to seven districts in the state till August 30.

Moderate to heavy rains lashed several parts of the state since Saturday night, with Pandoh recording the highest rainfall of 123 mm, followed by 105 mm in Kasauli, 104.6 mm in Jot and 100 mm each in Mandi and Neri.

Sundernagar logged 69.8 mm rainfall, followed by 68 mm in Karsog, 60.8 mm in Una, 54 mm in Jogindernagar, 52.8 mm in Nadaun, 44.7 mm in Baggi, 44.6 mm in Dharampur and 50 mm in Manali.

Thunderstorms occurred in Sundernagar, Shimla, Bhuntar, Jot, Murari Devi, Jubbarhatti and Kangra, the MeT office said.

Since the onset of monsoon in Himachal Pradesh on June 20, at least 155 people have died in rain-related incidents and 37 have gone missing, the SEOC informed.

The state has witnessed 77 flash floods, 40 cloudbursts and 79 major landslides so far and incurred losses to the tune of Rs 2,348 crore in rain-related incidents, it said.

The state has received 662.3 mm average rains during the current monsoon season from June 1 to August 24 against an average of 571.4 mm, an excess of 16 per cent.