At least 18 people have died in rain-related incidents and several people were left stranded across Himachal Pradesh on Monday, PTI reported. At least eight were killed in Solan, four in Mandi, two in Hamirpur and Kangra, and one each in Bilaspur and Una.
The heavy showers have triggered landslides across the state, the Hindustan Times reported.
The Chandigarh-Manali National Highway 21 near Mandi town, the Chandigarh-Shimla National Highway 5 near Jabli town, and the Mandi-Pathankot, Chamba-Pathankot and Shimla-Nahan national highways were blocked because of landslides. On Sunday, the Sangla Valley in Kinnaur district was cut off from the rest of the state after a boulder at Rutrang blocked the Karcham-Sangla road.
District administrations have asked people to avoid going outdoors, Hindustan Times reported.
A bridge in Kinnaur district was washed away on Monday, PTI reported. The district administration said it was working towards restoring traffic movement by setting up a span bridge.
Schools in Shimla, Kullu, Mandi, Hamirpur, Kinnaur, and Kangra remained closed on Monday due to heavy rainfall.
Moderate to heavy rainfall is expected to continue over many parts of Himachal Pradesh till Tuesday, said private forecasting agency Skymet Weather. Satluj, Yamuna and Beas, and their tributaries, were overflowing in Kinnaur, Shimla, Kullu, Mandi, and Bilaspur districts, an unidentified government spokesperson told IANS. The Bhakra Beas Management Board said water from the Pandog Dam in Madni district was being released since 9 am on Monday after heavy rain caused huge inflow in the Beas.
The downpour has also led to a suspension in operations at three mega-hydro power projects in the Sutlej River Basin, Hindustan Times reported.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority on Sunday issued red alert for a few places in Uttarakhand, saying they will receive heavy to very heavy rainfall. The Badrinath National Highway was closed on Sunday night at Lambgarh after heavy rain brought down debris on the road, ANI reported.
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