Himachal rains wreak havoc; 87 roads closed, bridge washed away

Heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh on Monday forced the closure of 87 roads and washed away an iron bridge in Chamba, temporarily stranding 40-50 pilgrims. Locals built a wooden footbridge to rescue them as the Met office issued an orange alert

Shimla: Heavy rainfall across Himachal Pradesh on Monday led to the closure of 87 roads, while a massive flood washed away an iron bridge in a village in Chamba district, leaving scores of pilgrims stranded, and Met office issuing an orange alert for Tuesday.

The damage to the bridge at the Baloth gram panchayat in the Bharmaur area left about 40-50 pilgrims en route to pay obeisance to Maa Bhagwati Khundhi Wali stranded, as the strong currents completely damaged the pathway used by pilgrims, former pradhan Pawan Sharma said.

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However, the pilgrims were rescued by the villagers, who made a temporary wooden footbridge and helped them cross safely. Sharma said that he received news of the heavy downpour and rushed to the site with residents.

“Showing promptness, the locals constructed a temporary wooden footbridge and helped the pilgrims cross safely”, he added. A large number of pilgrims use this route to visit the temple. There is a tradition among pilgrims to take a holy dip in the ‘Mata Dal Lake’ on the occasion of ‘Jyeshtha Mangalwar’ (a Tuesday in the Jyeshtha month).

Pilgrims cover a distance of approximately 35 to 40 kilometres on foot to reach the temple, villagers said. Rains continued to lash parts of the state, with Katula receiving 74.4 mm since Sunday evening, followed by Jot at 52.6 mm, Dharamshala at 30.1 mm, Sarahan at 20.2 mm and Jogindernagar at 15 mm.

The Shimla Met Office has issued an orange alert, warning of heavy to very heavy rains in four districts of Bilaspur, Kangra, Mandi and Sirmaur for Tuesday, and a wet spell for the state till August 23.

A maximum of 33 roads were closed in Kullu, followed by 27 in Mandi, nine in Shimla, six in Kangra, four each in Sirmaur and Una and one in Lahaul and Spiti district, according to the state emergency operations centre (SEOC).

The Met also issued a yellow alert of heavy rains in isolated places from Wednesday to Friday. Since the monsoon began on June 30, as many as 80 people have died in rain-related incidents, including 14 in landslides and one in flash floods, with the state suffering losses amounting to Rs 994 crore, officials said.