Himachal: Heavy rains, landslides across state, 5 die; tourists warned

Heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh claimed five lives and hundreds remained stranded across the state after incessant rainfall triggered landslides and snapped road links, an official said on Monday.

Three persons were killed in Mandi district in landslide incidents, while a boy was washed away in the swollen Kaushalya river near Parwanoo in Solan district.

Reports said five persons were buried under a landslide near Chakla village in Kandaghat in Solan district. One of them reportedly died. Rescue work is still on.

After heavy overnight rains, most of the roads in the interiors of the state remained closed to traffic on Monday, stranding hundreds of travellers and commuters.

The Chandigarh-Manali National Highway-21 has been closed for vehicles near Mandi town, an official said. Likewise, traffic on the Chandigarh-Shimla National Highway-5 was hampered near Chakki Ka Mor in Solan district.

The Mandi-Pathankot, the Chamba-Pathankot and the Shimla-Nahan national highways were blocked by landslides.

Vehicular movement in Kinnaur district remained suspended since a large stretch of the Hindustan-Tibet Road has been under landslides at several points.

An official said the road network in the higher reaches of Kinnaur, Shimla, Chamba, Mandi, Kullu and Sirmaur districts was the worst affected and efforts were being made to reopen it.

As a precautionary measure, all schools and educational institutes in Shimla, Solan, Kullu, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kinnaur and Mandi districts were closed for the day.

According to the Met office, moderate to heavy showers have occurred in most parts of the state since Sunday.

Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur district recorded the highest rainfall in the state at 239 mm, while it was 238 mm in Sujanpur Tira town in Hamirpur district.

Nehri town in Mandi district recorded 235 mm in the past 24 hours, while Palampur town recorded 212 mm.

It was 172 mm in the state capital, 142 in Dharamsala town, 98 mm in Kasauli, 94 mm in Solan town and 57 mm in Dalhousie.

The weather office has forecast heavy rains across the state till Tuesday.

Water being released from Pandoh Dam, warning issued to tourists

A warning has been issued for tourists and people residing in low-lying areas not to go near the Beas River as water is being released from the Pandoh Dam in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district on Monday, an official said.

Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) authorities have been releasing the water from Pandoh Dam since 9 am in view of the alarming situation of the silt in the reservoir as heavy rain has caused huge inflow in Beas River, the official said. BBMB authorities have informed the district administration that the outflow would increase gradually and the release of water from the dam would continue till 3 pm tomorrow, he said adding tourists and the people residing in low-lying areas have been warned not to go near the river.

The district administration is keeping a close watch on the situation, he added.

Kangra Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kumar said residents can call 1077 in case of an emergency.

with inputs from IANS and PTI