Shimla receives heavy rain, key roads blocked across Himachal

Twenty roads, including National Highway 5 near Theog in Shimla, blocked due to heavy rain; Kataula in Mandi district was the wettest place in the state with 163.3mm of rainfall followed by Sinhuta with 160mm, Kasauli 145mm, and Kangra that received 143.5mm

Debris and stones damaged several vehicles parked on roadsides in Shimla that received 99.2mm of rainfall in the past 12 hours, leading to the blocking of a key road.

People trying to get a vehicle out of debris after it got buried following heavy rainfall in Shimla on Saturday. (Deepak Sansta/HT)

Twenty roads, including National Highway 5 near Theog in Shimla, were blocked due to heavy rain, according to the state emergency operation centre.

Several parts of the state have received moderate to heavy rain since Friday.

Kataula in Mandi district was the wettest place in the state with 163.3mm of rainfall followed by Sinhuta with 160mm, Kasauli 145mm, and Kangra that received 143.5mm.

State capital Shimla received 99.2mm of rain, Gohar 81mm, Jubbarhatti 76.5mm, Pandoh 74mm, Sundernagar 70mm, Pachhad 65.2mm, Mandi 58.5mm, Kufri 58mm, Mashobra 52mm, Dhaulakuan 48.5mm, Dharamshala 47mm, Solan 44mm, and Nahan got 39mm.

The meteorological office in Shimla issued orange warning, indicating heavy to very heavy rain, thunderstorm, and lightning at isolated places on June 25 and 26 and yellow warning indicating thunderstorm and lightning on June 27 and 28.

Officials from the Shimla Jal Prabandhan Nigam Limited said that water supply will be hit for the next few days due to heavy silt load in the water sources and have requested the citizens to use water judiciously.