Rains cause heavy destruction in Himachal, Uttarakhand
Heavy monsoon rains for the last 3 days have caused huge damage in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In the last 48 hours, over 50 people have died in Himachal.
On the other hand, the Shimla-Kalka railway line, included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, was also damaged near Summer Hill. The landslide swept away a 50-metre-long bridge, leaving a portion of the track hanging in the air.
In Himachal, 857 roads are closed in 11 out of 12 districts. 4,285 transformer and 889 water supply schemes are stuck. On the other hand, the rivers are also in spate including Ganga in Rishikesh of Uttarakhand. Due to incessant rains, a large part of the road on the Dehradun-Rishikesh road was washed away.
While there have been cloudbursts at two places in Mandi district, there has been a cloudburst at one place each in Shimla, Solan and Kangra. Heavy rains have caused maximum devastation in Solan, Shimla and Sirmaur districts.
The Meteorological Department has also issued a yellow alert for heavy rains for Himachal on 15 August. In view of the alert, the local people, tourists have been asked to follow the advisories and guidelines issued by the concerned departments. The Meteorological Department has predicted rain in the state till August 18.
Dehradun district has received maximum rainfall in the last 24 hours in the entire state. Whereas, the maximum rainfall of 251 mm in Doon has been recorded in Sahasradhara area. The process of rain which started on Sunday continued till Monday morning.
