Heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh trigger landslides

Heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh in the past 24 hours triggered landslides and uprooted trees, damaging houses and vehicles and blocking 150 roads

Shimla: Heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh in the past 24 hours triggered landslides and uprooted trees, damaging houses and vehicles and blocking 150 roads. In a rain-related incident on Sunday, a conductor of a private bus was injured when a tree got uprooted and fell on the vehicle near ISBT here, officials said.

A total of 452 roads, including a maximum of 236 in Mandi, 59 in Shimla and 40 in Bilaspur district are now closed for vehicular traffic, according to the state emergency operation centre. Three vehicles parked on the roadside were damaged following a landslide at Dudhli in the suburbs of Shimla city. A landslide also occurred near St. Edwards School, while uprooted trees blocked the road for some time near 103 Tunnel in the heart of the state capital.

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The ply of essential commodities such as milk, newspapers and edibles here and in upper Shimla areas has been erratic over the past few days. Three houses, cow sheds and vehicles were damaged near Dagsech in the Namhol area of Bilaspur district following a landslide on the Shimla–Mataur road. The administration has vacated nine houses after the land in the area started sinking, officials said. A large number of heavy vehicles got stranded on both sides of the road at Chakki Mor near Koti on the Shimla-Kalka National Highway connecting Shimla and Chandigarh due to continuous landslides on the road stretch. The small vehicles are being diverted through alternate routes.

This road stretch got blocked on August 2 due to a major landslide in which 50 metres of the road caved in. The road was reopened on August 8 but continued slides are making commute difficult. Reports of damage to houses and agricultural land are also pouring in from several places in the Mandi district, including Chatru Panchayat in the Balh area and Lot and Dhishit panchayats in the Gohar area. Incessant rains for the last 48 hours have caused havoc in all parts of the Hamirpur district, leading to a spate in the Beas river and its tributaries.