Heavy rain disrupted normal life in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday with 1,311 roads and six national highways, including the Chandigarh-Shimla NH-5, closed due to landslides, officials said.
Traffic on the Chandigarh-Shimla national highway number 5 was disrupted due to a landslide at Sanwara in Kasauli tehsil of Solan district, they said.
The Dharampur-Kasauli road that branches out of the national highway is also in danger, they said, adding that a large number of vehicles were stranded on both sides of the highway. Traffic is being diverted through alternate routes and restoration work is underway.
The State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said that NH 3 (Mandi-Dharampur road), NH 305 (Aut-Sainj), NH 5 (Old Hindustan-Tibet road), NH 21 (Chandigarh-Manali road), NH 505 (Khab to Gramphoo road) and NH 707 (Hatkoti to Paonta Sahib) are blocked.
The situation is worse in interior areas where the link roads have been blocked for several days and apple producers are unable to send their produce to markets.
On Monday, trains plying on the Shimla-Kalka track were cancelled following landslips. The service will remain suspended till September 5.
An under-construction house was damaged following a landslide in the Anni area of Kullu district. No casualty was reported as the house had been announced endangered during the 2023 monsoon disaster and was vacated.
{{/usCountry}}An under-construction house was damaged following a landslide in the Anni area of Kullu district. No casualty was reported as the house had been announced endangered during the 2023 monsoon disaster and was vacated.
{{/usCountry}}All educational institutions remained closed in Shimla, Kangra, Sirmaur, Una, Bilaspur, Chamba, Hamirpur, Lahaul and Spiti and Solan districts besides Banjar, Kullu and Manali sub-division of Kullu district on Tuesday.
As many as 3,263 power transformers and 858 water supply schemes were disrupted across, the SEOC said.
The meteorological office in Shimla issued a red alert, warning of extremely heavy rain in isolated areas of the state on Tuesday and an orange warning of heavy to very heavy rains in parts of the state on Wednesday.
Efforts are on to evacuate about 5,000 Manimahesh pilgrims stuck in Chamba district, the officials said. So far, 16 pilgrims have died since the yatra started on August 15.
Since the onset of monsoon on June 20, the state has witnessed 95 flash floods, 45 cloudbursts and 115 major landslides.
In all, 327 people have died in rain-related incidents and road accidents, while 41 are missing.
The state has suffered losses of ₹3,158 crore so far this monsoon, according to official data.