Heavy rains have caused significant disruption across Himachal Pradesh, leading to the closure of 115 roads and the issuance of an orange alert by the Shimla meteorological office.
The Shimla weather office has issued an orange alert until Friday, warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, and lightning in isolated areas.
Among the closed roads, 107 are in Mandi, four in Chamba, three in Solan, and one in Kangra district. Additionally, 212 transformers are out of service across the state, according to the state emergency operation center. The Chandigarh-Manali four-lane road between Mandi and Pandoh has also developed cracks and started sinking, resulting in one-way traffic restrictions since Wednesday.
The meteorological department has issued a yellow alert for heavy rains expected over the weekend.
The yellow alert cautions, “Damage to plantation, horticulture and standing crops, partial damage to vulnerable structures, minor damage to kutcha houses and huts due to strong winds and rain, disruption in traffic and waterlogging in low-lying areas.”
Since Wednesday evening, Shimla has received 84 mm of rainfall, causing several trees to be uprooted and roads to be littered with debris from drains. Sundernagar experienced the heaviest rainfall at 111 mm, followed by Palampur with 109.4 mm.
Other regions also reported significant rainfall: Shimla at 84 mm, Gohar at 80 mm, Solan at 79.8 mm, Mashobra at 78.5 mm, Jogindernagar at 75 mm, Baijnath at 70 mm, Mandi at 55.2 mm, and Kangra at 44.2 mm. The coldest nighttime temperature was recorded in Narkanda, Shimla district, at 13.4 degrees Celsius, while the highest daytime temperature was noted in Bhuntar, Kullu, at 35.6 degrees Celsius.