The India Meteorological Department on Monday predicted heavy rains for Himachal Pradesh and said Kullu, Mandi, Shimla are expected to witness more showers. Moreover, the local meteorological office has issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rains in isolated areas of Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur on Monday and Una, Bilaspur, Kangra and Sirmaur on Tuesday.
297 roads closed in Himachal
In the meantime, moderate to heavy rains continued to lash parts of Himachal Pradesh, resulting in the closure of 297 roads, including one national highway on Sunday, officials said.
A person died and two others sustained injuries when their vehicle fell into a gorge following a landslide near Dargi on Sunni area of Shimla district on Sunday.
The ill-fated vehicle with three people on board was on its way to to Chanog. The deceased was identified as Lekhraj (37). Vikas and Nitish are under treatment at Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital, Shimla, officials said.
On Saturday evening, Dinesh Kumar (54) was killed when a bulldozer he was operating plunged into a deep gorge in Kumarsain, around 77 kilometres away from Shimla.
103 deaths reported due to rain-related incidents
So far, there have been 103 reported deaths due to rain-related incidents, with 36 people still missing. The fatalities include 20 drownings, 19 deaths from falls, 17 deaths from cloudbursts, eight from flash floods, and six from landslides, officials said.
Since Saturday evening, several regions have experienced moderate to heavy rainfall, with Bharari recording 108.2 mm, follow ed by Murari Devi with 82 mm, Naina Devi at 74.4 mm, Malraon at 56.2 mm, Brahmani at 45.4 mm, Una at 38 mm, and Jot at 36.2 mm.
A total of 297 roads, including NH-505 (Khab to Gramphoo) have been closed for vehicular traffic as of Sunday evening.
164 roads affected in Mandi district
The majority of these, 164 roads, are in the heavily affected Mandi district, while 67 are in Kullu district, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).
Additionally, 134 power distribution transformers and 266 water supply schemes have been affected across the state, the SEOC said.
Since the onset of the monsoon on June 20 until August 3, the state has incurred losses totalling Rs 1,714 crore.
As many as 1,649 houses have been fully or partially damaged in the state, with 53 flash floods, 28 cloudbursts and 47 major landslides recorded this season, officials said.
(With inputs from PTI)
