Himachal Pradesh rain havoc: Two dead, shops and vehicles washed away, roads blocked

Shimla: Two people died on Thursday after heavy rains battered several districts of Himachal Pradesh. The deceased Chavelu Devi (55) and Kritika (17) died in Kullu district when their house at Khadel village in Sheel gram panchayat of Anni tehsil was hit by debris following the landslide around 9 am, said Director of state disaster management department Sudesh Mokhta.

The downpours have washed away shops and vehicle in Kullu. Meanwhile, highways are blocked by flash floods in other places.

In a separate incident in the district, rain swept away 10 shops and three vehicles after a cloudburst hit the Deuthi gram panchayat in Anni tehsil around 7.30 am.

An old bus stand and a panchayat building at Deuthi are also facing the risk of being washed away, and revenue department officials have reached the spot to assess the situation, he added.

Shimla district also faced the wrath of the rains after three small cars and a pickup vehicle were washed away during torrential rains at Diyandali Nullah in Chopal tehsil.

A landslide has blocked the important Mandi-Kullu national highway in the Mandi district. The incident occurred at 7 Mile near Pandoh due to which National Highway-21 has been completely blocked. Vehicular traffic has been diverted through Kataula.

A crasher, two compressors machines and a store of a construction company were washed away in a cloudburst incident near Ala Nullah in Bharmour tehsil of Chamba district, 

Meanwhile, National Highway-3 has been blocked due to flash floods in Lahaul-Spiti district. 

There is a flood-like situation and stones are falling continuously near Kuthbihal after flash floods at Telling nullah in Lahaul subdivision.

Road restoration work is under process, the official said.
Besides, state highway number 26 was blocked following a flash flood at Sindhwari nullah in Udaipur subdivision of Lahaul-Spiti district, he said.

Flash floods were also reported at Lote and Tozing Nullahs in Lahaul subdivision.

A car was hit by flash floods at Tozing Nullah, resulting in closure of road for vehicular movement to avoid any untoward incident.

Two cars were damaged as a major portion of the road in Mauza Shamlecha caved in due to heavy rains in Solan district on Thursday, the state disaster management department said.

Meanwhile, 141.8 mm rain was recorded in Sundernagar in the last 24 hours, followed by Hamirpur with 120 mm, Sarkaghat 112.3 mm, Paonta Sahib 97.6 mm, Chopal 74 mm, and Mandi 69.8 mm, the local meteorological department said.