Cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh village buries vehicles in debris, damages farms

Shimla, Sep 13 (PTI) Several vehicles were buried under debris, and crops were damaged due to a cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh's Bilaspur district in the early hours of Saturday, officials said.

No casualty was reported in the cloudburst that occurred around 3 am in the Gutrahan village in the Naina Devi assembly constituency.

Gushing waters carrying debris scattered all over agricultural lands, said Kashmir Singh, a villager whose land and crops have been damaged.

Four vehicles were buried under debris, said Deputy Commissioner of Bilaspur Rahul Kumar, adding that crop damage is being assessed and relief will be provided after receiving the report.

As soon as the information about the incident was received, officials reached the spot and took stock of the situation. The Public Works Department has begun removing the debris to restore traffic at the earliest.

There are reports of water and debris damaging over six houses in the Kamlari and Ghatasni villages of the Bhattiyat assembly constituency in Chamba district.

Three families, whose houses were endangered after a piece of land adjacent to their houses in the Dalit Basti area in Hamirpur district started sinking following heavy rains, moved to their relatives' homes.

In the state capital of Shimla, fog reduced visibility to a few metres, inconveniencing motorists. The local weather office has issued a yellow warning of heavy rains in isolated parts of the state on Saturday and Sunday.

Light to moderate showers continued to lash parts of the state, with Palampur receiving 86 mm of rain since Friday evening, followed by Murari Devi 69.2 mm, Kangra 58.2 mm, Jogindernagar 45 mm, Dharamshala 31.2 mm, Aghar 16.8 mm, Naina Devi 16.6 mm, Nahan 14.6 mm, and Mandi 13.6 mm.

A total of 561 roads, including the Attari-Leh stretch of National Highway-3, Aut-Sainj section of NH-305, and the Amritsar-Bhota stretch of NH-503A, were closed for traffic on Saturday evening.

About 237 power transformers and 317 water supply schemes have been disrupted in the state due to the recent floods and landslides, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).

A total of 394 people have died in rain-related incidents and road accidents since the onset of the monsoon over the state on June 20, while 41 are still missing.

So far, the state has suffered a loss of Rs 4,467 crore, the officials said. PTI BPL NSD NSD