Monsoon Woes Resurface in Himachal Pradesh, Triggering Landslides and Power Outages

GG News Bureau
Shimla, 28th August. The monsoon in Himachal Pradesh has once again exacerbated the challenges faced by the residents. Since Monday night, heavy rains have lashed various parts of the state. The Meteorological Department has issued a ‘Yellow Alert’ for the next two days, predicting more heavy rainfall. The intense downpour has caused landslides in several areas, leading to the closure of numerous roads. Additionally, the failure of hundreds of transformers has plunged several regions into darkness.

According to the State Emergency Operations Center’s report, 126 roads were rendered impassable due to landslides as of Tuesday. Mandi district was the hardest hit, with 50 road closures, followed by Shimla with 41, Solan with 12, Kangra with 10, Kullu with six, Sirmaur with four, and Una, Lahaul-Spiti, and Kinnaur each reporting one road closure. Furthermore, lightning and heavy rains caused 1,191 transformers to fail across the state. Mandi alone reported the failure of 783 transformers, while Solan, Kullu, Chamba, Sirmaur, Una, and Kinnaur reported 223, 95, 44, 28, 17, and one transformer failure, respectively. In Shimla district, 27 water supply schemes have also been disrupted.

In the last 24 hours, rainfall was recorded at 80 mm in Kahu (Bilaspur), Jubbarhatti (Shimla), and Kandaghat (Solan). Kufri and Dharampur received 70 mm, while Shimla and Pachhad recorded 60 mm each. Chopal, Solan, Nagrota Surian, Gohar, Sundernagar, Kasauli, and Narkanda each received 40 mm of rain. Heavy rainfall also lashed the capital city of Shimla last night and continued throughout the day, causing difficulties in transportation.

Kuldeep Srivastava, Director of the Meteorological Center in Shimla, stated that the state has experienced substantial rainfall due to the active monsoon since yesterday. He also noted that a ‘Yellow Alert’ for heavy rainfall remains in place for the plains and mid-hills on August 28 and 29. The weather is expected to remain inclement across the state until September 2.