Heavy rainfall spells to continue in Himachal, flash flood alert in six districts
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a low to moderate flash flood alert for Mandi, Kullu, Hamirpur, Shimla, Sirmaur and Solan districts for the next 24 hours
Rainfall is expected to continue in Himachal Pradesh in coming days, with heavy to very heavy rainfall also likely at some places.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a low to moderate flash flood alert for Mandi, Kullu, Hamirpur, Shimla, Sirmaur and Solan districts for the next 24 hours. The weather office said surface run-off or inundation may occur at some fully saturated soils and low-lying areas due to expected rainfall occurrence.
During the last 24 hours, extremely heavy rain was observed at isolated places while heavy to very heavy rainfall was observed at a few places in the state.
According to MeT department officials, light to moderate rainfall is very likely across most parts of the state on July 2, 3, 6, and 7, and at many places on July 4 and 5. One or two spells of heavy rain are also expected at isolated locations on all these days, with heavy to very heavy rainfall likely at isolated places on July 2, 5, 6, and 7.
For July 2, an orange alert of heavy to very heavy rainfall has been sounded in Kangra, Solan and Sirmaur, while a yellow alert of heavy rainfall has been sounded in Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Mandi and Shimla districts. Moreover, ten districts of the state will be under a yellow alert of heavy rainfall on July 3, followed by three districts on July 4.
406 roads blocked
As the heavy rainfall triggered a number of landslides across various districts of Himachal, 406 roads remained blocked in the hill-state on Tuesday. As per State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), 248 roads were blocked in Mandi, followed by 55 in Kangra, 37 in Kullu and 32 in Shimla district.
Speaking about the situation in the hill state, public works department minister Vikramaditya Singh on Tuesday said that restoration work is actively underway, particularly in the Mandi and Kullu districts, which have suffered the most damage over the past 24 hours. “Restoration is ongoing in all landslide-affected areas. In locations where bridges have been washed away, we had pre-procured modular bridges that are already stored in Dharamshala, Mandi, Kullu, and Shimla, and these will be deployed once conditions stabilise,” he said.
Soon area specific weather forecast: Jitendra Singh
Shimla Union minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said soon there will be area specific weather predictions.
“The IMD office in Shimla is the oldest and we have in place a robust forecast system,” he said.
Referring to the cloudbursts incidents, he said, “The forecast system has improved but predicting cloudbursts still remains a challenge. We are working towards improving the forest case system and soon we will have the area specific forecast. We have started village wise for the farmers.”
“The number of automatic weather systems will be increased and you will see soon the level of accuracy will be much more,” he added.
