Himachal: One killed in cloudburst, weather dept warns of heavy rains

Shimla/Nahan, Sep 26 (PTI) A cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district early on Thursday led to the death of a person while 32 roads were closed due to bad weather in the area, officials said.

Heavy rains lashed several parts of the state closing around 53 roads.

A cloudburst at Pardoni village led to the death of a person while shops and other infrastructure were damaged after four watermills collapsed in the Amboya area of the Poanta subdivision in the district, Sirmaur Deputy Commissioner Sumit Khimta told PTI.

The deceased, identified as Rangi, was buried under the debris, the officer said, adding several villages in the Amboya area were cut off as the Tok Nagla bridge connecting these villages to the main road collapsed.

The water level in the Yamuna river has increased while educational institutes have been closed for a day in Poanta Sahib and Shallai in view of the inclement weather, he said.

According to the weather department, Dhaulakuan in Sirmaur district was the state's wettest place with 301.5 mm of rain followed by Poanta Sahib 165.6 mm, Renuka 100 mm, Nahan 94.4 mm, Dharamshala 54 mm, Kangra 47.3 mm, Jubbarhatti 43.2 mm, Mandi 42.2 mm, Palampur 39 mm, Shimla 38.8 mm, and Dehra Gopipur 38 mm.

Kukumseri in Lahaul and Spiti was the coldest place in the state with a low of 10.4 degrees Celsius, while Una was the hottest with a maximum temperature of 33.2 degrees Celsius.

Thirty-two roads have been closed in Sirmaur, followed by 10 in Kangra, eight in Mandi, two in Kullu and one in Shimla district, while 248 power supply schemes have been affected, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).

There were reports of rain and erratic power supply in several areas, including in Shimla and Hamirpur districts.

The local weather office issued an 'orange' alert, a warning for heavy rains, in isolated parts of the state for Thursday and a yellow warning for thunderstorms and lightning on Friday.

It also warned of low to moderate flash flood risk in parts of Shimla, Sirmaur, Kangra, Chamba, Solan, Kullu and Mandi till Friday.

People, especially school children and office-goers, faced inconvenience during the morning hours as dense fog engulfed the areas amid rains, a local in Shimla said.

The rain deficit in the current monsoon season was 19 per cent with Himachal Pradesh receiving 590.4 mm rainfall against a normal of 729.5 mm, the local meteorological office had said.

Officials said that 185 people have died in rain-related incidents since the onset of the monsoon till Wednesday evening, while 28 were missing.

The state has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 1,332 crore, they said. PTI