18 dead, key highways blocked in Himachal

SHIMLA/DHARAMSHALA: Torrential rain wreaked havoc across Himachal Pradesh, claiming 18 lives and leaving hundreds stranded as several highways across the state were blocked, officials familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The state has been experiencing heavy rain since Sunday night that has triggered landslides because of which several key roads, including the MandiKullu highway and the MandiPathankot highway were blocked. The ChandigarhShimla highway could also not be used for vehicular movement due to the rain-triggered landslide. Overall more than 900 roads, including six national highways, have been damaged in the rain.

Most of the government and private schools remained shut in the state on Monday and with the weatherman predicting more rainfall, authorities have asked the institutes to remain closed on Tuesday as well.

Heavy rain disrupted power generation at three mega-hydro power projects in Sutlej River Basin. Chief engineer (system operations), Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL), Suneel Grover said that 1,500-megawatt Nathpa-jhakri, 412MW Rampur Hydel Electricity Project and 1000MW Karcham-wangtoo project were shut due to heavy silt and floods.

Himachal Pradesh has suffered a loss of ₹775 crore as landslides due to heavy rains damaged roads, irrigation and public schemes across the state in the last 24 hours, news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted chief minister Jai Ram Thakur as saying.

He directed the officers to deploy adequate men and machinery at landslide-prone areas along national and state highways to regulate traffic. The chief minister has also directed the Irrigation and Public Health Department to immediately restore water supply in the affected areas.