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Alert in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh as heavy rains wreak havoc
An official in Shimla said the met department had also issued a red warning for Kangra, Shimla, Solan and Mandi districts on August 18.
As torrential rains buffeted the northern states on Saturday, an orange weather warning for extremely heavy rainfall was issued for the whole of Himachal Pradesh on Sunday and an alert sounded in Punjab following the release of excess water from the Bhakra dam.
An official in Shimla said the met department had also issued a red warning for Kangra, Shimla, Solan and Mandi districts on August 18. An orange warning is for conditions that have the capacity to impact lives significantly, while red is the most serious kind of weather warning.
More than 150 people have died across Himachal Pradesh in rain-related incidents this monsoon season, an official said, including three in the last 48 hours. One was a 65-year-old woman, identified as Kalabantu, who was killed in a landslide near Pashi village in Sainj valley of Kullu district on Friday while on her way to collect fodder for her cattle.
The second was a 20-year-old youth, Sahil Chaudhary, of Kehrna village in Kangra district who drowned in a local rivulet. Another man, identified as Dharmapal (45), was washed away in the swollen Sarsa rivulet in Solan district.
Shimla met centre director Manmohan Singh said heavy to very heavy rainfall was likely to occur at most places in Himachal on Sunday and roads might be blocked especially in Chamba, Kullu, Lahaul-Spiti, Kangra, Mandi and Shimla districts. Over 140 roads are already blocked by landslides.
All schools in Kangra were shut on Saturday following incessant overnight downpour on Friday night. “Keeping in view the extreme climatic conditions, we have declared a holiday in the schools,” said Kangra deputy commissioner Rakesh Kumar Prajapati.
Traffic on the Manali-Leh highway was disrupted as water levels in the Beas and nearby rivulets rose to danger levels. Sections of the road were closed to traffic after flash floods in a river in Koksar village close to the highway. Several people stranded near Palampur following flash floods were rescued.
There was heavy flow of water in Baner Khud and Baan Ganga adjoining Chamunda Ji and the water level in rivulets in Nurpur sub division was on the rise as well, an official said.
In Punjab, an alert was sounded in several districts following the release of excess water from Bhakra dam through the spill gates after heavy rainfall in its catchment area.
The Bhakra Beas Management Board authorities discharged 17,000 cusecs of excess water out of a total release of 53,000 cusecs through the spill gates, an official said. The remaining 36,000 cusecs was released after its use for power generation, he added.
On Saturday, rains lashed several places in Punjab, including Ludhiana, Amritsar, Mohali, Chandigarh. People living near the Sutlej river and low-lying areas have been advised to be vigilant and take precaution to safeguard themselves.
With the Yamuna also flowing near the warning level, Delhi agencies are closely monitoring the situation to deal with any possible flooding, an official said. Yamuna’s water level reached 203.27 metres, slightly below the warning level of 204.5 metres, an official said.
Among the southern states, normalcy was slowly returning in rain-battered Kerala. People started moving back to their homes from relief camps, even as the toll climbed to 113, with authorities retrieving more bodies from the landslide hit districts of Malappuram and Wayanad. Search operations are continuing at Kavalappara in Malappuram and Puthumala in Wayanad.
Andhra Pradesh, however, received heavy showers, with a swollen Krishna river leaving 87 villages and hundreds of acres of farm land under a sheet of water in two districts. National Disaster Relief Force personnel retrieved the body of a girl who drowned in the swollen river, taking the death toll to two in the state.
WITH PTI INPUTS
