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Mandi people grappling with drinking water shortage
Mandi residents, already struggling with the aftermath of the flash flood that caused widespread destruction and claimed three lives in the town, say that the disruption in water supply due to heavy rainfall has further added to their woes
Mandi town, which bore the brunt of monsoon havoc, and faced severe flash flood on Tuesday, is grappling with drinking water crisis.
Mandi residents, already struggling with the aftermath of the flash flood that caused widespread destruction and claimed three lives in the town, say that the disruption in water supply due to heavy rainfall has further added to their woes.
Officials said that the water supply has been completely disrupted due to excessive silt deposited in the intake system in the Uhl river. Apart from this, the main drinking water pipeline near Madhyani Nala has also suffered serious damage.
The pipeline breakages were reported on Tuesday in several areas, including Bijni, Tarna, Jail Road, Sauli Khad, Ramnagar, Purani Mandi, Bhiuli, Khaliar, Sanyardi, and Nela, further disrupting the water supply system.
Deepak Guleria, of Thanera Mohalla in Mandi, said that ever since Tuesday havoc, residents have been facing a shortage of drinking water. “We haven’t received drinking water since Tuesday. People need water not just for drinking but also for cleanliness. Today, we had to use water from a natural source in our locality. We face such situations every monsoon,” he said.
Avninder Singh, former MC councillor and a resident of Ramnagar in Mandi said, “Those who had stored water are now using it, while others are in a difficult situation. People have even started using water from stepwells (bawdis). The problem will increase if water supply is not restored in a few days,” he said.
Executive engineer of Jal Shakti Mandal Mandi, Praveen Gupta, said the department has begun repair and restoration work on a war footing. “We are repairing the main water supply line that comes from the Uhl River, and work on the intake system has also commenced. Heavy rainfall and flash floods have caused extensive damage. We are making every effort to restore the water supply by Thursday, depending on weather conditions,” he said.
On Tuesday, the heavy rainfall caused severe destruction in areas like Jail Road, Hospital Road, Sain Mohalla, and nearby residential areas. Moreover, the water and debris entered many homes as well.
Mandi-Kullu Highway blocked
The Mandi-Kullu stretch of Chandigarh-Manali highway has been blocked for vehicular movement due to landslide near Banala (near Aut) late Wednesday, officials said.
Officials said that due to continuous falling of stones from the hill, there is inconvenience in opening the road and it will be opened for vehicular movement in the morning (Thursday). The stretch was earlier blocked on Tuesday due to landslides at multiple locations.
With the heavy rainfall spells expected to continue in parts of Himachal Pradesh, the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Shimla office has sounded a yellow alert of heavy rainfall in Kangra, Kullu, Mandi and Shimla districts for July 31.
Meanwhile, As many as 289 roads remained blocked in Himachal on Wednesday. As many as 289 roads remained blocked in Himachal on Wednesday, which included 193 roads blocked in Mandi district alone, followed by 47 roads blocked in Kullu district and 18 in Kangra district. Moreover, 254 water supply remained disrupted in the state including 58 in Mandi district.
The weather office has also issued a yellow alert for August 1 in Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur districts. On Wednesday, an orange alert was sounded in Chamba, Kangra and Mandi districts. Due to incessant heavy rainfall landslides were also reported at various locations in the hill-state.
According to MeT department officials, light to moderate rainfall is very likely to continue at most places on July 31, August 4 and 5, and at many places from August 1 to 3. Moreover, one or two spells of heavy rainfall are expected at isolated places till August 5.
During the last 24 hours, monsoon was active over the state. While light to moderate rainfall was observed at most places, heavy to very heavy rainfall was recorded at isolated places in the state.
The highest rainfall of 18 cm was recorded in Chamba’s Chuari, followed by Palampur (16 cm), Kangra (12 cm), Nadaun (8 cm), Pandoh (6 cm), Dehra Gopipur (5 cm), Gohar (4 cm), Pachhad (4 cm), Chamba (3 cm), Dharamshala (3 cm), Kataula (2 cm), Jubberhatti (2 cm), Solan (2 cm), Kothi (2 cm), Bhuntar (1 cm), Una (1 cm), Nahan (1 cm) and Nichar (1 cm).
Kinnar Kailash Yatra postponed
The Kinnar Kailash Yatra was also postponed on Wednesday because of adverse weather conditions and unsafe state of the trail. “The Yatra will resume once weather conditions improve and the route is deemed safe by the concerned authorities,” said Kinnaur police.
Vikramaditya visits Mandi
Himachal public works department (PWD) minister Vikramaditya Singh on Wednesday visited the Mandi town and took stock of the damage caused by the flash flood.
He visited Jail Road and Palace area in ward number 5 as well as Zonal Hospital Road, Kalyan Dham, Sain Mohalla and other affected places. He also met the affected families and assured them of all possible help.
He said that relief and rehabilitation work is underway on a war footing, Vikramaditya said, adding, “Due to landslides, heavy rocks have fallen at many places and roads have been blocked, which will be removed through controlled blasting with robot machines so that the safety of the common people can be ensured.”
Vikramaditya Singh said the state government is now giving priority to pre-disaster management. “A comprehensive roadmap is being prepared with the cooperation of the central government to establish an artificial intelligence-based early warning system so that disaster warnings can be given in time,” he said.
