Himachal Rain Alert: 126 roads, including 2 national highways, closed as met issues orange alert for very heavy rains

Rain-induced landslides and flash floods in several parts of Himachal Pradesh since the past week have thrown life out of gear, blocking over 120 roads, uprooting trees and inundating low-lying areas, according to officials.

A total of 126 roads, including two national highways, in the state are closed for vehicular movement, officials said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the local meteorological office issued an 'orange' alert for heavy to very heavy rains on Thursday and a 'yellow' alert for heavy rain in isolated parts of the state till August 21.

Kangra, Sirmaur and Bilaspur districts received heavy rains overnight, with some streams overflowing, trees uprooting and roads being waterlogged in Kangra.

According to rainfall data recorded from Wednesday 5 pm to Thursday 9 am, Kangra was the wettest in the state recording 156 mm rains, followed by 150.8 mm in Dharamshala, 143 mm in Palampur, 120 mm in Nahan , 78.2 mm in Naina Devi , 69 mm in Jot, 67.4 mm in Dehra Gopipur, 48 mm in Poanta Sahib and 37.6 mm in Slapper.

Roads are being constantly be closed and reopened owing to landslides, flash floods, and cloudbursts across the state. The number of roads shut on Wednesday evening increased from 75 to 126 on Thursday morning, as rains led to closure of 51 more roads on the intervening night.

The state emergency operation centre said 76 roads were blocked in Shimla, 18 in Mandi, 13 in Kullu, eight in Sirmaur, five in Kangra, three in Kinnaur, two in Lahaul & Spiti and one in Chamba district on Thursday morning.

105 power and 47 water supply schemes were also affected, the centre said.

The rainfall deficit in the state during the monsoon that began on June 1 stood at 23 per cent till August 15 with Himachal Pradesh receiving 389.1 mm rain against an average of 504.9 mm.

According to the officials, 113 people were killed in rain-related incidents and the state suffered losses of about Rs 1,083 crore between June 27 and August 14.