Himachal cloudburst toll rises to 5; more rains may lash hill state tomorrow

As many as five people were reportedly killed and about 50 went missing after cloudburst was reported in several parts of Himachal Pradesh early on Thursday. The state emergency operation centre said the cloudbursts occurred in three districts: Nirmand, Sainj and Malana areas in Kullu, Padhar in Mandi and Rampur in Shimla.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Shimla issued a “red alert” for heavy to extremely heavy rain along with thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places in three districts of Kangra, Kullu and Mandi on Thursday. “Moderate flash flood threat is likely in isolated parts of Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Sirmaur and Shimla districts in the next six hours,” the MeT office was quoted by PTI as saying.
It also warned of landslides, mudslides and land sinking, besides disruptions of essential services like water and electricity, communications and related services, damage to fruit and standing crops and risk to vulnerable structures and ‘kutcha’ houses due to strong winds and waterlogging in low-lying areas.
The IMD issued orange and yellow alerts in a few districts. The orange alert was issued in the Kanga district, predicting heavy to very heavy rain on Friday, August 2. Heavy rains are also predicted in Sirmaur, Solan, Mandi and Shimla on Friday.
Heavy to very heavy rain has been recorded at 20 stations in the hill state, meteorological expert Sandeep Sharma said, adding that the wet spell would continue for the next four to five days in the state.
Himachal Pradesh has received 266.6 mm of rains against normal rainfall of 366.3 mm, a deficit of 27 per cent in the ongoing monsoon season from June 1 to July 31.
Data on the emergency operations in the state until Tuesday evening showed that rain-related incidents had claimed 65 lives since the onset of the monsoon on June 27.
The state has also suffered losses to the tune of ₹433 crore, according to the state’s Emergency Operation Centre.
(With inputs from agencies)