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Rain continues to batter Himachal, red alert in six districts
Nearly 700 roads remain blocked due to landslides, including four national highways connecting Kullu-Mandi, Mandi-Pathankot, Kalka-Shimla and Theog-Hatkoti
Himachal Pradesh continued to bear the brunt of incessant rain triggering landslides, leading to buildings collapsing at Anni in Kullu district and blocking four highways on Thursday even as the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert, predicting heavy to very rainfall in six districts of the state.
Also read: Buildings collapse in rain-battered Himachal Pradesh, highlight vulnerability
Though the MeT department forecast the wet spell to last till August 29, the red alert was issued for two days in Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur districts. “There is an orange alert for Hamirpur and Bilaspur,” said Surender Paul, director of IMD’s Shimla centre. He said the state has seen widespread rainfall since Wednesday with Jogindernagar recording 150mm of rain followed by Palampur getting 136.8mm, Nahan 92.7mm, Shimla 79mm, Dharamshala 70.2mm, Pandoh 70mm, Solan 60.4mm, Mandi 57.6mm, Dhaulakuan 55.5mm and Kangra 40.4mm of rain.
One more body was recovered from the site of a landslide at the Shiv temple in Shimla. So far, 25 bodies have been recovered from the debris of the three major landslides in Shimla alone -- at the Shiv temple in Summer Hill (18) and in Fagli (5) and Krishnanagar (2), SP, Shimla, Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi said.
While one body was pulled out on Thursday, two more bodies are still buried in the debris. The body has been identified as that of Neeraj, a resident of Summer Hill. About 120 people have died in rain-related incidents in the state this month while a total of 239 people have died and 40 are still missing since the onset of monsoon in Himachal Pradesh on June 24.
Nearly 700 roads are blocked due to landslides, including the four national highways connecting Kullu-Mandi, Mandi-Pathankot, Kalka-Shimla and Theog-Hatkoti.
The National Highway between Mandi-Kullu has been severely impacted due to the heavy landslip near Pandoh and relief camps have been set up along the stretch of Pandoh and Aut besides Bajaura.
Residents of Shimla, who spent a sleepless Tuesday night after the state capital received 200mm of rainfall, struggled to come to terms with the unprecedented situation as roads, including the lateral ones, remained closed at 24 sites in the town.
“Shock and panic after the recent rain traumatised many with hospitals reporting more cases for psychological treatment. They included families who have lost their property and near and dear ones,” said Dr Dinesh Dutt Sharma, the head of the psychiatry department at Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital.
“The way it rained for the past two days was scary. We couldn’t get enough sleep due to the fear of landslides and floods lurking,” said Ruchi Bhogal, a schoolteacher.
Himachal has seen three major spells of heavy rain this monsoon. The first on July 9 and 10 led to large-scale destruction in Mandi and Kullu districts. Shimla and Solan districts were hit during the second spell on August 14 and 15 and Shimla city suffered heavy damage in the third spell on Tuesday night.
