Heavy rain affected Himachal Pradesh overnight on Wednesday leading to the death of a migrant couple in Shimla. Officials said on Wednesday that more than 200 roads were blocked including the Shimla-Chandigarh highway, and damaged some houses in Solan district.The couple has been identified as Jhalu Oraon of Jharkhand and his wife Rajkumari Devi. They were found dead in their shanty at Shol village in Baldeyan area of Shimla district.IMD issued an orange alert on Wednesday for continued rainfall with a flash flood warning in nine districts of Shimla, Sirmaur, Kangra, Chamba, Mandi, Hamirpur, Solan, Bilaspur, and Kullu. A yellow alert has also been issued for August 25 and 26.Heavy rainfall battered various parts of the Himachal with Bilaspur receiving 181 mm of rainfall, followed by Berthin with 160 mm, Shimla with 132 mm, Mandi with 118 mm, Sundernagar with 105 mm, Palampur with 91 mm, and Solan with 77 mm of rainfall as per meteorological records.A red alert has been issued for eight districts by the weather office predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall with subsequent flash flood risks.Heavy Rainfall disrupts transportA total of 530 roads in Himachal are now shut with the addition of 200 more on Wednesday. Fresh landslides blocked the Shimla-Kalka National Highway 5 connecting Shimla and Chandigarh near Chaki Mor near Parwanoo.NH 21 (Mandi-Kullu road) was blocked near Pandoh and traffic has been diverted. Moreover, NH 154 (Mandi-Pathankot) was also blocked, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre.213 roads were blocked in Mandi district, 58 in Shimla, and 50 in Bilaspur according to State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) director DC Rana.Hundreds of travelers commuting through the Kullu-Mandi road are stranded now due to the blockade of roads without nothing to eat or drink as per media reports. Long lines of traffic can be witnessed which stretches around 5-10 km.One person can be seen expressing their frustration with the situation and demanding for the roads to be cleared as soon as possible. Kullu, Himachal Pradesh: There is nothing to eat or drink here. There is a traffic jam of about 5-10 km. The road should be opened soon, say stranded people (23.08) pic.twitter.com/24gX34fUeI— ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2023Houses damaged due to heavy rainfallShakal Village on the outskirts of Solan city saw the destruction of some houses as waters gushed inside the houses. Landslide in Sabathu destroyed few houses and vehicles as mentioned by Solan deputy commissioner Manmohan Sharma.Horrifying Visuals have been caught on camera that show buildings collapsing in the Kullu district like a pack of cards on Thursday morning.Disturbing visuals emerge from Anni, Kullu, depicting a massive commercial building collapsing amidst a devastating landslide. Its noteworthy that the administration had identified the risk and successfully evacuated the building two days prior. pic.twitter.com/cGAf0pPtGd— Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (@SukhuSukhvinder) August 24, 2023As seen in the video, at least eight to nine big buildings collapsed near a bus stand in Anni town. According to initial reports, one of the buildings that collapsed in Thursdays landslide housed two banks.VIDEO | Several buildings collapsed in Himachal Pradeshs Kullu due to rain-triggered landslides in the district. More details are awaited.(Source: Third Party) pic.twitter.com/hxDbYgzoQJ— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 24, 2023Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the administration had identified the risk and evacuated the commercial building two days ago. Three houses were vacated in Panthaghati and Sanjauli areas of Shimla as preventive measures while parts of Shimla remain without power as electricity wires got severed.Seasonal rainfall above normal, wet spells expected till August 28With the issue of an orange alert of heavy to very heavy rainfalls on Wednesday and Thursday, wet spells are expected till August 28 in the state according to the reports of the weather office.A total of 227 people have died due to flash floods and rain-related incidents in Himachal till now while 38 people have been reported missing. Since the onset of the monsoon season on June 24 over 12000 houses have been completely or partially destroyed as per the reports of the state emergency operation centre.The seasonal rainfall for the state was recorded as 752.1 mm against a normal rainfall of 550.4 mm, an excess of 36% from June 24 to August 22. Earlier this month, about 80 people died in rain-related incidents, including landslides in Shimla.In terms of funds, a total of ₹10,000 crore loss was suffered by the state in the heavy rains according to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.Widespread destruction of life and property was experienced by this region during this years monsoon which spread over three intense periods of heavy rain.
