Shimla: Heavy rains disrupted normal life in several parts of Himachal, prompting closure of schools and colleges in some areas of Una, Kullu and Mandi districts, officials said on Wednesday.
Educational institutions were shut in Amb and Gagret subdivisions of una as a precautionary measure. Similar orders were issued for Manali and Banjar in Kullu, and for areas in Mandi district following incidents of flash floods, cloudbursts and landslides.
In Kullu, flash floods in the Nallah in Shastri Nagar damaged houses and vehicles, triggering panic among locals. However, there was no loss of life, Kullu Municipal Council president Mahant Gopal Dass said.
On Monday night, following incidents of cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides a foot bridge in Silbhudhani village of Mandi district was washed away, a statement issued by the sub-divisional magistrate said.
Bhubu, Kungri and allied streams in the district are also seeing turbulence due to which schools in the village have been asked to remained shut on Wednesday for the safety of the students, the statement further said.
A total of 362 roads, including three national highways, were closed for vehicular traffic in the state on Wednesday morning. Among these, 183 roads were closed in Mandi district and 105 in the adjoining Kullu, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) informed.
Due to landslides triggered by heavy rains, Mandi-Kullu road National Highway 21 and Mandi-Jogindernagar road (NH 154) and Aut-Sainj road (NH 305) were closed, it said.
Intermittent rains lashed several parts of the state since Tuesday evening with Bharwain in Una logging the highest rainfall of 68 mm, followed by 63.4 mm in Dehra Gopipur, 60.4 mm in Palampur, 60 mm in Guler, 56 mm in Solan, 50.8 mm in Bilaspur, and 47.2 mm in Jubbarhatti, the weather department said.
It said that Naina Devi recorded 46.6 mm of rain, followed by 40 mm in Nadaun, 38 mm in Jogindernagar, 37.4 mm in Nagrota Surian and 36.4 mm in Sujanpur Tira since Tuesday evening.
The local meteorological office issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rains in isolated parts of the state from August 24 to 26. A yellow warning for heavy rains at isolated places in the state has been issued for August 23.
According to the SEOC, 550 power supply transformers and 132 water supply schemes have been disrupted.
Since the onset of monsoon in Himachal Pradesh on June 20 till date, the state has incurred losses to the tune of Rs 2,211 crore due to rain-related incidents, officials said.
The state has witnessed 74 flash floods, 38 cloudbursts and 72 major landslides so far, they said, adding that around 143 people have died and 37 are missing.
Himachal received 634.9 mm average rains during the current monsoon season from June 1 to August 20 against an average of 543.6 mm, an excess of 17 per cent.