Himachal: 69 roads closed, MeT cautions of heavy rainfall over weekend

Shimla, July 13 (PTI) Light to moderate rainfall was witnessed in parts of Himachal Pradesh on Monday, with the weather office issuing an alert for heavy rain at isolated places in the state on Saturday and Sunday. As many as 69 roads -- 38 in Kullu, 13 in Mandi, six in Sirmaur, five in Shimla, four in Kangra, two in Una and one in Lahaul-Spiti districts -- are closed following torrential rainfall, while 80 water supply projects are disrupted, according to the state emergency operations centre (SEOC). So far, 25 landslides have been reported in the current monsoon season during the month of July, which received 125 mm of rain against a normal of 94.5 mm, an excess of 32 per cent. Kasauli in Solan district received 62 mm rainfall in the 24 hours since Sunday evening, followed by Olinda (60 mm), Dharampur (54.6 mm), Ghamroor (51.6 mm), Nangal Dam (48.2 mm), Brahmani (42.4 mm) and Una (35.4 mm). Thunderstorms were witnessed in Shimla, Sundernagar, Bhuntar, Kangra, Jot and Murari Devi while gusts with wind speed ranging between 37-50 kmph lashed Bilaspur, Neri, Shimla, Kufri, Hamirpur, Sundernagar and Tabo. Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti was coldest in the state on Monday, recording a low of 8.4 degrees Celsius, while Neri was hottest with a maximum of 35 degrees Celsius. PTI BPL ARB ARB