Himachal gets relief from heavy rainfall

SHIMLA - After two days of moderate to heavy showers which led to snapping of road links following landslides, the hills of Himachal Pradesh saw subdued rainfall activity Thursday, weather officials said.

Most of the rivers that were in spate till Wednesday saw a decline in water levels.

“There were reports of scanty rainfall in state Thursday. Weather conditions are likely to remain the same in the state in the next 24 hours (Friday),” Met Office director Manmohan Singh told IANS.

Shimla got 84.2 mm of rain from 8.30 a.m. Wednesday till 8.30 a.m. Thursday, Nahan town in Sirmaur district 53.6 mm, and Sundernagar in Mandi district 32 mm, Kalpa in Kinnaur district 21 mm and Dharamsala in Kangra district 6.4 mm.

Most of the rivers in the state were in spate following continuous rainfall. Incessant rains had also caused massive landslides on National Highways 21 and 22 in Shimla, Kinnaur, Mandi and Kullu districts, hampering vehicular traffic.

A government spokesperson said that as rainfall subdued, the water level in the Satluj, the Beas and the Yamuna rivers and their tributaries receded as compared to Wednesday.

Meanwhile, over 80 tourists, including foreigners, are still stranded in the Sangla Valley in Kinnaur district.

“Nearly 50 tourists from Kolkata, five from France, 11 from Germany and the rest from other countries are stranded in and around Sangla village for the past few days due to massive landslides on the road linking the village,” Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Mamta Chaudhary said.

She said road-clearing operation was on but it would take some time to clear the landslides.