Heavy rain wreaks havoc in Himachal, breaks record of last 14 years

Shimla, August 21: Heavy rain wreaks havoc in Himachal and created a ruckus. Heavy rain caused havoc in Mandi, Chamba, Kangra, Hamirpur and Shimla districts. As per the data, during the last 24 hours, 19 people have lost their lives in 34 incidents of landslides, floods and cloudbursts in the state, while 9 people are missing. Also Read | Flash flood, landslides in Himachal: 15 missing in Mandi, two bodies recovered Principal Secretary Revenue Onkar Sharma said that this time there has been 316 percent more rain in the state. This is the highest rainfall in the last 18 years. Only 2010 and 2018 have received above normal rainfall. According to the State Disaster Management Authority, 742 roads remained closed on Saturday due to torrential rains, 2,000 transformers and 172 drinking water projects were also disrupted. Maximum 10 people have died in Mandi district. Three people have died in Chamba, two in Shimla, one each in Una, Kullu and Kangra. Most of the deaths were due to landslides. Maximum 352 roads are blocked in Mandi zone, 206 in Shimla zone, 174 in Kangra zone and seven in Hamirpur zone. Two state highways and Shimla-Kalka National Highway were also closed in Shahpur zone. Shimla-Kalka National Highway was also blocked on Saturday evening due to the hill break near Sanu Bungalow. Traffic has been diverted from Shoghi-Mehli bypass. Two people were killed and two injured when a car of UP number crashed in Theog on Theog-Shimla highway. Principal Secretary Revenue Onkar Sharma said that an amount of 232 crores has been given to the districts for rehabilitation and relief works. He said that so far 233 people have died in rain-related accidents in the monsoon season. The rain has caused a loss of more than 1200 crores in the state. During the last 24 hours, Gaggal in Kangra district received the highest rainfall of 347 mm. This is the biggest figure of rain in this monsoon season. 333 in Dharamsala, 210 in Jogendranagar, 184 in Naina Devi, 155 in Baijnath, 129 in Gohar, 125 in Bijahi, 120 in Mandi, 117 in Pandoh, 113 in Palampur, 111-111 in Dalhousie and Sarkaghat, 109 in Mashobra, Theog 90 in Sundernagar, 78 in Sundernagar, 75 in Kandaghat, 68 in Shilaru, 68-68 in Kahu and Kufri, 61 in Barthi, 58 in Shimla, 56 in Shunni Bhaji, 54 in Chopal and Maire, 52 in Kasol, 43 in Bajuara, Tinder and Dharampur have received 42 mm rainfall, Narkanda 41 and Jhanduta 40 mm. Also Read | Flash floods near Vaishno Devi temple, movement of devotees halted The Meteorological Department has issued a yellow alert for heavy rainfall in the plains and mid-mountain parts of the state from August 21 to 24. In view of the huge loss, the state government has called an emergency meeting in the secretariat. In this meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary, top officials of all departments were present. The Chief Secretary has issued instructions to the concerned departments to expedite the rescue work, restore the roads, electricity and water supply at the earliest. -PTC News