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Fresh landslides block traffic on Chandigarh-Manali highway
Traffic movement on the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway was blocked on Wednesday evening due to fresh landslides in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh.
Traffic movement on the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway was blocked on Wednesday evening due to fresh landslides in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh.
Officials said the highway has been blocked at multiple points, including the 4-mile mark, 9-mile mark, Kainchi Mod, and Dwara. “Light motor vehicles are being diverted via the Kamand bypass,” officials added.
Earlier this week, traffic on the Mandi-Kullu stretch of the highway was disrupted on Monday following a landslide near the 4-mile mark. Prior to that, a landslide on Saturday had blocked the highway for over 24 hours.
A major landslide occurred near Shillai town in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district on Wednesday, blocking the Hatkoti-Paonta Sahib stretch of National Highway (NH) 707, officials said.
Hours after a huge part of the hillside came crashing down, restoration efforts began but debris falling from the hillside obstructed work, they said.
According to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), a total of 258 roads, including NH 707, were closed in the state on Wednesday.
The maximum number of 140 blocked roads are in Mandi district followed by 55 in Sirmaur and 35 in Kullu.
As many as 171 water-supply schemes and 151 power distribution transformers were also affected after heavy rain in the hill state.
Light to moderate rain occurred across the state, while Koti, Jaton Barrage on the Giri river and Sarahan received 40mm of rain followed by Dadahu that got 30mm, Nahan 21.3mm, Manali 17mm and Narkanda that got 15mm.
The meteorological department on Wednesday issued an orange warning of heavy to very heavy rains in isolated parts of the state on July 21 and 22 and a yellow warning of heavy rain in isolated areas in seven of the 12 districts till July 20.
