Five people died, five were injured and 16 went missing due to heavy rains in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh and sudden floods. At the same time, 11 incidents of cloudburst, four accidental floods and a major landslide occurred in the state on Tuesday, most of which occurred in Mandi district, which disrupted normal life. Please tell that from Monday evening, Mandi received 253.8 mm of rain.
Heavy to very heavy rain, thunder storm and electric alert
The Meteorological Department on Wednesday issued heavy rains, thunderstorms and lightning on the three districts Kangra, Solan and Sirmaur and four districts Una, Hamirpur, Kangra and Mandi on different places in different places.
248 roads closed, 994 transformer interrupted
According to the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC), a total of 406 roads are closed in the state due to rain, 248 of which are in Mandi district alone, where 994 transformers have also been disrupted. Officials said that 24 houses, 12 cattle sheds, one bridge and several roads have been damaged, 30 cattle have been killed and efforts are on to save nine people stranded in Mandi district. SEOC said that a total of 332 people have been rescued, including 278 in Mandi, 51 in Hamirpur and three in Chamba.
5 killed, widespread loss
There have been reports of cloudburst at four in Gohar in Mandi district, three in Karsog, two in Dharampur and one place in Thunag. Two people died in Bada and one person in Talwara, in both Gohar area, one person died in the old market of Karsog, while a body was recovered in Neri-Kotla in Jogindernagar. Mandi Deputy Commissioner Apoorva Devgan said that cloudburst and sudden floods after heavy rains have caused widespread damage to some places in the district.
However, many people have been rescued and have been evacuated to safe places. Two teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are engaged in search and rescue operations in the district with police and home guards. All the rivers and drains of the district are in spate and more than 1.5 lakh cusecs of water have been released from the Pandoh dam on the Beas river. The water level of Pandoh dam was released after reaching 2,922 feet as against the danger mark 2,941 feet.
Himachal Pradesh lost Rs 500 crore
The Chandigarh-Manali four-lane road is currently blocked at many places including nine miles, Dwada, Jhalogi and Banala, while the Kamand-Katula-Bajaura road is open for light motor vehicles (LMVs) only. In many places, passengers are facing inconvenience due to traffic problems. Talking to reporters in Hamirpur, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu said that since the beginning of the monsoon season on June 20, Himachal Pradesh has suffered a loss of Rs 500 crore till now.
He said that in the last two-three years, there has been an increase in the incidents of cloudburst, which is worrisome and the reasons behind it are being reviewed. He appealed to the people not to go on the banks of the river drains. Meanwhile, 51 people, including 30 laborers trapped in Ballah village in Hamirpur district, were also rescued after the water was flooded in the low -lying areas of Ballah due to sudden boom in the Beas river after releasing water from Pandoh Dam.
Schools remain closed in view of heavy rains
There are reports of raw houses, water pipelines and electrical wires being damaged from Hamirpur district and people are forced to walk on foot, as the road from Sujanpur Tera to Sandhol on the left bank of Beas river is partially submerged and has been blocked for the movement of vehicles. In view of heavy rains, the district administration of Mandi and Hamirpur closed the schools on Tuesday. However, local people said that some students had already reached school due to not getting information about this in Hamirpur district.
Flood alert in six districts
The Meteorological Department has warned of light to moderate floods in six districts Chamba, Hamirpur, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur and parts of Solan in the next 24 hours. The Meteorological Department has issued a ‘yellow’ alert of heavy rains in most parts of the hill state till 5 July. In view of heavy rains, the Director General of Police has issued special instructions to the district police to provide immediate relief to the trapped people, to stay on high alert, ensure security of relief camps, control traffic and monitor rumors on social media.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Tuesday that a strong weather forecast system exists, but it is still difficult to estimate the horrors of cloudburst. The Minister of Science and Technology informed that the number of automated weather centers is being increased to improve accuracy and area-specific weather forecasts will be provided soon.