Himachal weather update: Yellow alert issued for heavy rain in several districts

Shimla, September 04: The Meteorological Centre in Shimla has issued a yellow alert for heavy rain in several districts of Himachal Pradesh, warning residents and authorities to prepare for possible disruptions. The alert is applicable to Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi and Sirmaur districts on Wednesday, while additional warnings have been issued for Hamirpur and Una districts. According to the weather department, heavy rains are expected at several places in these areas throughout the day.

The state received heavy rains on Tuesday, with the capital Shimla and Solan recording heavy rainfall. Incessant rains led to waterlogging in several areas, especially in Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh in Solan district, with traffic badly affected as water accumulated on roads. Due to the prevailing weather conditions, the national highway had to be closed via Chakkar route from Shimla city due to landslides, forcing vehicles to detour via Boileauganj. Besides, the Paonta Sahib-Shilai national highway was blocked for 24 hours due to a landslide near Hevna.

Heavy rains also caused massive disruption on NH-5, where a landslide occurred at Nigulsari at 7 pm on Monday. The landslide led to debris accumulation on 200 metres of the highway, which could be cleared only after 23 hours, allowing traffic to resume at 6 pm on Tuesday. Problems were also reported on the Taklech Devthi road in Rampur subdivision, where the road started caving in near Seripul on Monday night. This caused inconvenience to thousands of residents of four panchayats in the area, leaving them stranded and facing difficulties in commuting.