Rain fury: Three shops, bridge washed away by flash floods in Kullu

A bridge and three shops were washed away by flash floods when an overnight cloudburst hit Kanon village in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, officials said on Tuesday, 19 August.

Rains have triggeed landslides at several places and the district administration has closed all educational institutions, including schools, colleges and anganwadi centres in Kullu and Banjar sub-divisions on Tuesday.

The decision was taken to ensure the safety of students, said Torul S. Raveesh, deputy commissioner and chairperson, District Disaster Management Authority, Kullu.

In Shimla city, 40 people were safely evacuated late on Monday, 18 August, night after a massive landslide struck close to Ramchandra Chowk.

While no loss of life was reported, parts of a building's roof was damaged. Trees were also uprooted near Ashiyana Regency in Chota Shimla area.

Authorities reported cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides in Kullu and Banjar. These resulted in road blockages, footbridges being washed away and other similar damages, they said.

Heavy rain damaged a footbridge, a shop and a vehicle, besides agricultural land in Shilhabudhani and Tarswan gram panchayats in Padhar area of Mandi district.

According to Shilhabudhani pradhan Prem Singh and Tarswan pradhan Jai Singh, all the nalas in the area are in spate, and the residents were moved to safer places on Monday night.

Several places in Himachal Pradesh were lashed by moderate to heavy rains. Jubberhatti in the suburbs of Shimla city recorded 73 mm rainfall since Monday night, followed by Amb 56 mm, Bhuntar 44.8 mm, Bilaspur 40.2 mm, Shimla 38 mm, Kasol 33 mm, Seobagh 32 mm, Kothi 25.4 mm, Bhareri 23 mm and Kufri 21.2 mm.

In all, 389 roads were closed for vehicular traffic in the state, including two national highways, on Monday evening. Of these, 193 roads were in Mandi district and 104 in the adjoining Kullu, said State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).

According to the SEOC, 760 power supply transformers and 186 water supply schemes have been disrupted.

Since the onset of monsoon in Himachal Pradesh on June 20 till date, the state has incurred losses to the tune of Rs 2,194 crore due to rain-related incidents, officials said on Monday evening.

The state has witnessed 74 flash floods, 36 cloudbursts and 70 major landslides so far, they said, adding that around 140 people have died and 37 are missing.