Shooting stones kill man during road clearing in Himachal, avalanche alert for 5 districts

Shimla, Mar 4 (PTI) As many as 81 tourists stranded in Himachal Pradesh's Spiti Valley due to closure of roads after heavy snowfall have been shifted to safer places, police said on Monday.

An excavator operator engaged in clearing a blocked stretch on the Shimla-Kinnaur road on national highway 5 at Negulsari in Kinnaur died this morning after shooting stones fell on him. The deceased was identified as Madan (27), a resident of Kullu, officials said.

The Defence Geoinformatics Research Establishment (DGRE), Chandigarh has issued avalanche warning for five districts of Chamba, Lahaul and Spiti, Kullu, Kinnaur and Shimla in Himachal Pradesh on Monday.

Meanwhile, over 650 roads, including four national highways, in the state remained closed for vehicular movement on Monday following several avalanches and landslides caused by incessant rain and snow for the past three days, according to the state emergency operation centre.

The 81 tourists stranded in Spiti Valley in Lahaul and Spiti district were on Sunday night shifted to and accommodated in different hotels and homestays there, the police said in a statement.

About 290 roads are blocked in this tribal district and several areas are without electricity for the past two days, the statement said.

Heavy rain and snow in Lahaul and Spiti has also disrupted the cellular network, it added.

As many as 166 roads are closed in Shimla followed by 75 in Kinnaur, 58 in chamba, 32 in Mandi 17 in Sirmaur, 14 in Mandi, one each in Kangra and Solan.

A total of 1,655 transformers are out of order while 145 water schemes have been disrupted in the state, according to the emergency centre.

High altitude and tribal areas received another spell of snow and Koksar recorded 40 cm of snow, Gondla 33 cm, Kothi 27 cm, Keylong 21 cm, Kufri 5 cm and Kalpa 4.5 cm in the past 24 hours, according to the bulletin issued by the meteorological department.

Manali with 60 mm of rainfall was the wettest in the state followed by Tissa 52 mm, Poanta Sahib 26 mm, kataula 33 mm, Bhattiyat 31 mm. State capital Shimla received 10 mm of rain, as per the bulletin.

On Sunday, an avalanche hit Dara Waterfall near Jasrat village in Lahaul and Spiti, obstructing the flow of Chenab and triggering an alert in the adjoining area, officials had said.

They had advised the residents of adjoining villages of Jobrang, Rapi, Jasrath, Tarand and Tharot to stay cautious and inform the nearest police post in case of emergency.

Cold wave conditions continued across the state. There was appreciable change in the minimum temperatures across the state, with a dip in the mercury. Kukumseri in Lahaul and Spiti was coldest, recording a low of minus 11.2 degree Celsius. PTI