Vehicular traffic has halted on as many as 252 roads in Himachal Pradesh due to extreme rainfall and landslides, including two national highways. Majority of the affected roads, 205 of them, are in the landslide-hit Mandi district, PTI reported citing officials on Saturday.
Landslide hit the Chandigarh-Manali national highway on late Friday night, leading to closure of its Mandi-Kullu stretch for around 10 hours. The landslide hit Kainchi Mor and other places near Pandoh dam in Mandi district, the report added. The local authorities requested tourists to stay where they are while restoration work is going on. The road is expected to be reopened by Sunday morning, police said.
"The Mandi-Chandigarh national highway has been blocked due to the landslide. We request the tourists to stay at their homes... We have diverted the small vehicles going towards Kullu... When the landslide stops properly, restoration work will be started," Desh Raj, SHO Mandi told ANI.
A groom was stuck on the way to his wedding venue along with his baraat (wedding procession) due to the landslide, following which, the police called a taxi and arranged for him to leave for the venue safely while rest of the people were asked to wait for the road to open, the PTI report said.
The Chailchowk-Gohar-Pandoh, Kamand-Kataula, and Bajaura routes were used to divert small vehicles, however, heavy vehicles were stopped at Nagchala and Jhiri, said police
{{/usCountry}}The Chailchowk-Gohar-Pandoh, Kamand-Kataula, and Bajaura routes were used to divert small vehicles, however, heavy vehicles were stopped at Nagchala and Jhiri, said police
{{/usCountry}}National Highway 3’s (Atari-Leh) Mandi to Dharampur via Kotli stretch is also closed due to heavy rainfall.
Himachal has suffered severe losses
Since the monsoon hit Himachal Pradesh on June 20 this year, the state has suffered losses of ₹751 crore, the PTI report said. The State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) said that around 327 power distribution transformers and 787 water supply schemes have been disrupted.
As many as 95 people have died in the state since the onset of monsoon, out of which 56 have died in rain-related incidents and 36 have died in road accidents. Around 175 people have been injured and 33 are missing, the report added.
According to the SEOC, Himachal Pradesh has recorded 26% above-normal rainfall since June 28, leading to 31 flash floods, 22 cloudbursts, and 18 landslides across the state so far.
The state’s public works department minister Vikramaditya Singh has announced a financial relief of ₹2 crore for the areas affected by floods. While speaking to ANI, Singh said that an interim amount of ₹2 crore has been approved for road restoration in the worst-hit assembly constituencies. Additionally, ₹50 lakh will be allocated to each of the other constituencies for emergency infrastructure work.
"Balanced development has always been our top priority. The disaster that has struck parts of Himachal, particularly Mandi district, is deeply tragic. I personally visited affected areas such as Nachan, Siraj, Chohar, Karsog, and Dharampur. The worst-hit region is the constituency of former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur," he said.
With inputs from ANI, PTI.