Heavy to extremely heavy rains disrupt life in Himachal; JP Nadda postpones visit

Shimla, Jul 10 (PTI) Heavy to extremely heavy rains disrupted normal life in parts of Himachal Pradesh on Friday, blocking roads, damaging bridges, leaving one person killed and two others injured in separate incidents. The Shimla Met office has issued a yellow warning of heavy rains in isolated places in the state till July 15 and predicted a wet spell till July 16. It has forecast heavy rainfall in many parts of the state, while cautioning against possible landslides, flash floods, uprooting of trees and road blockades. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has activated the Intra-Circle Roaming (ICR) facility in the districts of Chamba, Kullu, Lahaul Spiti and the Thunag area of Mandi district following the disruption of telecom services caused by torrential rains, a statement issued here said. The ICR feature lets your phone connect to another telecom provider's network if your primary carrier's signal is unavailable. The Tourism Department has temporarily suspended adventure activities like river rafting due to rising water levels in the Beas River. “A temporary ban has been imposed on river rafting in the Beas River as rivers and streams could surge at any time, which would further increase the water level of the Beas River,” Kullu District Tourism Development Officer Rohit Sharma said. Education Minister Rohit Thakur said that the district administrations have been given authority to declare holidays for educational institutions if the situation worsens. Teaching and non-teaching staff would be granted a holiday along with students if schools were closed due to weather-related events, he added. Earlier, all government and private educational institutions and Anganwadis were shut in Sirmaur and Solan districts following very heavy rains. A foundation laying ceremony of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Centre for High Altitude Medicine and Public Health Research at Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti that was scheduled on July 11 has been postponed due to bad weather conditions. Union Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda was to lay the foundation stone of the centre set to be India's first dedicated institution for high-altitude medicine and public health research. The heavy rains also claimed one life. A 70-year-old man was killed after being hit by falling boulders from the hillside onto the Buanda-Chwai road in Anni subdivision of Kullu district in the afternoon. The deceased, identified as Shiv Ram, a resident of Buanda village, was on his way from Buanda towards Chwai when he lost his life near Ghalad Nala. The locals immediately pulled him out from the debris and rushed him to Civil Hospital Anni, where the doctors declared him dead. In Solan district, two persons sustained injuries after a boulder hit their vehicle in the Arki area. They have been admitted to a hospital in Kunihar for treatment, officials said. Incidents of rockfall were reported along the Kalka-Shimla National Highway, leading to the closure of one lane. According to officials, rockfalls between Waknaghat and Kandaghat, and between Dharampur and Chakki Mod on the highway were also reported. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has restricted traffic to a single lane as a precautionary measure, the officials said. They further said that a landslide threat looms over the main Bailey bridge near Sangla in Kinnaur district, adding that any further damage to the structure could cut off Sangla Valley from the rest of the region. Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar Sharma confirmed that the Sangla bridge has been damaged. The bridge was constructed last year with the assistance of the BRO and the Indian Army. Sharma said that with the bridge declared unsafe, traffic is being diverted via Kamru village, and advised people against undertaking unnecessary travel. Heavy rains damaged the spillway channel of the Nanti Khad (stream) in the reservoir area of the Ganvi-2 Power House in Rampur, Shimla district, officials said. A major tragedy was averted in Sanjauli, Shimla, when a massive amount of debris and rocks fell onto a house located behind Vishal Mart. The debris crashed onto the home of Yashpal. Two people of the family were inside when the tragedy struck, but they somehow managed to run out just in time, saving their lives. The family stated that the administration was informed immediately after the incident, but by late evening, neither had a relief and rescue team arrived at the site, nor had any action been initiated to clear the debris. The family alleged that the threat of landslides persisted, posing a serious risk to the safety of the house and the residents living nearby. Commuters faced inconvenience as 27 link roads were closed for vehicular traffic in Shimla district, according to the district disaster management authority. An uprooted tree blocked a key local road in the Banmore area near Chhota Shimla, restricting access to several residential areas, including the locality where the residences of ministers and legislators are located. The residents urged the Forest Department to expedite the removal of remaining dry and hazardous trees to prevent such incidents in the future. The heavy rainfall also caused a wall collapse at Vikasnagar in Shimla, damaging two vehicles parked by the roadside, the officials said. According to separate orders issued by the deputy commissioners of Sirmaur and Solan, Priyanka Verma and Manmohan Sharma, respectively, continuous rainfall led to obstruction of rural roads, increased risk of landslides and general disruption of normal life, particularly in the rural and hilly areas. According to the weather office, heavy to extremely heavy rain lashed parts of Himachal Pradesh since Thursday evening, with Pachhad in Sirmaur district receiving 207 mm of downpour, followed by Solan (185.4 mm), Nahan (158.5 mm), Kasauli (145 mm) and Dharampur (136.8 mm). In light of the inclement weather, the Kullu administration has issued an alert, urging people to stay away from rivers and streams and to avoid travelling at night. PTI BPL KSI KSI