Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to continue over Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand during the next two-three days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday. While Himachal is expected to get heavy rain on Tuesday and some relief thereafter, Uttarakhand may continue to be struck by heavy showers till August 18. The weather department has issued an ‘orange’ alert for three districts – Dehradun, Pauri Garhwal, Tehri Garhwal – and a yellow alert for the rest of the districts of Uttarakhand for Tuesday. For Himachal, the weather office has issued a yellow alert for all districts.
“Isolated extremely heavy falls also likely over Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh during next 24 hours and substantial decrease thereafter from tomorrow (Tuesday),” the weather department said in its daily update released on Monday.
Both Himalayan states have been hit by extremely heavy rainfall in the last few days, triggering landslides, blocking key roads, and damaging homes. In Himachal Pradesh, at least 49 people were killed as rains wreaked havoc in several districts including the capital city Shimla. Fourteen bodies were recovered from the sites of two landslides in Shimla, and there could be more people trapped under the debris of the Shiva temple in the Summer Hill area.
In Uttarakhand, three persons were killed and 10 others went missing as torrential rains hammered the state, demolishing buildings and causing landslides that breached the national highways to Badrinath, Kedarnath, and Gangotri shrines leading to the suspension of the Chardham yatra for two days.
Rudraprayag district disaster management officer Nandan Singh Rajwar said a landslide hit a camp at Lincholi on the Kedarnath trek route damaging four shops in which one person from Nepal was killed and a trader went missing. Two bodies were recovered from rain-fed streams near Shiv Mandir and Miranagar areas in Rishikesh.
As many as 114 workers were trapped inside a tunnel called ‘Edit-II’ of the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail line project when the water of a flooded stream in the Shivpuri area gushed into it. And a bridge in Bantoli in Madyamaheshwar valley in the Garhwal district broke down leaving more than 100 Madyamaheshwar-bound pilgrims stranded. A defence training academy on the outskirts of Dehradun also collapsed. The building was located on the banks of the Song river near Lalpul.
The IMD had issued a red alert for Monday in six districts of Uttarakhand, including Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri, Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital, and Champawat, and an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rain in Haridwar. Most of the rivers were overflowing with the Ganga flowing above the danger mark in Tehri, Haridwar, and Rishikesh. The situation in Haridwar is alarming as the Ganga is flowing at 295.60 metres, 1.60 metres above the danger mark.
Himachal, too, has been badly hit by torrential rains. Nineteen people died in rain-related incidents in Mandi while 11 people including seven members of a family were killed in Solan, another badly affected district. The weather office predicted extremely heavy rains in nine out of 12 districts of the state on Monday and issued a yellow warning for Tuesday.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu earlier said nine bodies have been pulled out of the debris from a Shiva temple in the Summer Hill area and the other site in the Fagli area where several houses were buried under mud and slush. All schools and colleges in the state were closed on Monday.
The Unesco world heritage Shimla-Kalka railway line was damaged near Summer Hill here after a landslide swept away a 50-metre bridge, leaving a portion of the track hanging in the air. Deputy Commissioner of Shimla Aditya Negi told PTI that many people were feared buried in the two landslides in Summer Hill and Fagli areas.
Heavy rains struck Himachal Pradesh since Sunday, triggering landslides that blocked several roads, including the key Shimla-Chandigarh road. Kangra received 275 mm rainfall since Sunday evening followed by Dharamshala 264 mm, Sundernagar 168 mm, Mandi 167 mm, Berthin 149, Shimla 135 mm, Dhaulakaun 111 mm and Nahan 107 mm. The weather department has predicted a wet spell in the state till August 18.
(With inputs from PTI)
