Met office predicts light to moderate rains in Himachal Pradesh   

Shimla: Even though the monsoon remained subdued in the past few days in Himachal Pradesh, the local Met office on Thursday predicted a wet spell of light to moderate rain in the state between September 15 and September 20.

A fresh western disturbance is likely to affect northwest India from the evening of September 15, the Met office said and predicted light to moderate rains in low and mid hills, and light to moderate rain as well as snow in high hills till September 20.

As per Met data, Himachal Pradesh has received 834 mm of rain during the ongoing monsoon season from June 1 to September 14 against normal rainfall of 686.5 mm, an excess of 21 per cent.

Heavy rain wreaked havoc in Himachal Pradesh in the months of July and August and the state has so far suffered losses of Rs 8,680 crore due to it.

Since the onset of monsoon on June 24 till September 13, about 270 persons have died in rain-related incidents as per the state emergency operation centre.