Heavy monsoon rains have caused havoc in many parts of North India, two workers died due to cloudburst in Uttarakhand and a red alert has been issued due to dangerously increasing rivers in Himachal Pradesh and disruptions due to landslides. Officials said there was a landslide in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand in the early hours of Sunday, killing two construction workers and seven others went missing.
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Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has directed the Deputy Commissioners of Kangra, Mandi, Sirmaur and Solan districts to keep the school closed on June 30, in view of the ‘Red’ alert issued by the Meteorological Department on Sunday for heavy to heavy rains. The Meteorological Department said in a revised warning issued on Sunday evening, “There is a possibility of heavy rains in some places in Kangra, Mandi, Solan and Sirmaur districts by Monday evening, heavy rains are likely to receive different places in Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur and Shimla districts and different places in Kullu and Chamba districts.”
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According to a statement issued here on Sunday evening, Sukhu has directed the Deputy Commissioners of Kangra, Mandi, Sirmaur and Solan to keep the school closed on Monday to ensure the safety of students. Following the instructions of the Chief Minister, Mandi Deputy Commissioner Apoorva Devgan declared a holiday for all government and private educational institutions except for IIT-Mandi, Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College and other medical institutions due to possible threat of landslides, dislodging trees, sudden floods and road blocking. Kangra Deputy Commissioner Hemraj Bairwa has also declared a holiday in all educational institutions in the district except residential institutions. The Shimla Meteorological Center on Sunday issued a “red alert” of heavy rains in 10 districts of Himachal Pradesh, while services on the Shimla-Kalka railway line remained postponed for hours until the night rains were removed after the night rains.
Three people died in rain -related incidents in the last 24 hours. With this, the death toll from the beginning of the monsoon in the state increased to 20. The State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) said that one person drowned in Una and Bilaspur districts, while one person died after falling from a height in Shimla district. Landslides near Koti on the Koti near Koti on the Shimla-Kalka National Highway (NH-5) connecting Shimla and Chandigarh damaged the traffic, resulting in traffic.
Solan Superintendent of Police (SP) Gaurav Singh said on Sunday that traffic has been restored near the mill diversion on NH5 damaged due to landslides and police teams are helping in traffic movement. He said that the alternative route is closed due to the fall of debris on Jungheshu Marg, which is being cleaned. When the road is cleared, the traffic going from Kasauli towards Chandigarh will be sent via Jungheshu. Out of the 12 districts of the state, 10 districts- Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi, Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, Una, Kullu and Chamba have been released on 29 June.
The Meteorological Department has warned of landslides, waterlogging, damage to weak structures, traffic jams and interruption in essential services. In the year 2023, there was heavy loss in the state due to heavy rains, when the Meteorological Department issued a ‘red alert’ in the months of July and August. More than 550 people died in Himachal Pradesh in the most horrific monsoon disaster ever.
Shimla-Kalka UNESCO World Heritage Rail route collapsed on the tracks near the Koti area, which blocked the train services. The repair work is going on. The first train coming in the morning got stuck at Koti station, while other trains were stopped at Guman and Kalka stations. Videos of passengers are also coming out online while waiting for hours and expressing their anger. Not only Koti but to Shimla, stones, trees and debris have dropped.
A bridge has been swept away on the route connecting the Himuda Complex located near the truck union in the Badotiwala industrial area of Solan, which has stopped traffic on the road leading to Mandhala and Bagguwala. The Bald river of Baddi region is in spate and flowing near Jhadmajari in a raudra form, which has increased the possibility of loss in the surrounding areas.
About 20 houses have been flooded in about 20 houses in Shivalik Nagar Colony of Jhadmajari. Every year there is a problem of waterlogging in the rain. Meanwhile, the water level of Mandi’s Juni Khad and Vyas river has increased. The administration has appealed people not to go to the river and be vigilant. Officials of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) said that about 44,000 cusecs of water is flowing in the Beas river and the silt level has reached 4,000 ppm, due to which the buggy tunnel has been closed and power generation at Dehar Power House has been temporarily stopped.
129 roads have been closed in the state due to rain, while 612 transformers have deteriorated. Roads have been the most damaged in Sirmaur and Mandi districts, where 57 and 44 roads are blocked respectively. From Saturday evening, 135 mm in Jogindernagar, 125 mm in Kasauli, 119.5 mm in Hahu, 116.8 mm in Paonta Sahib, 102 mm in Bijahi, 96 mm in Sundernagar, 91 mm in Shimla, 89 mm in Kufri and 85.6 mm in Solan.
The local meteorological office on Monday issued a ‘Orange’ alert for some parts of the state and has forecast the continuation of rain till July 5. Apart from this, floods have been warned of floods in parts of Bilaspur, Chamba, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur and Una districts. According to the State Emergency Operations Center, 20 people have died in rain -related incidents since the onset of monsoon on June 20 in Himachal Pradesh, while four people are missing.
