Monsoon Havoc in Himachal: Cloudburst in Rampur, Flood Alert in 7 Districts
Two buildings collapsed in Shimla..!
Shimla, June 30:
Relentless heavy rainfall over the past two days has thrown life out of gear across Himachal Pradesh. Landslides are being reported from several areas, houses are collapsing, rivers are in spate, and fear has gripped residents across the state. A cloudburst occurred late Sunday night in the Rampur region of Shimla district, adding to the crisis.
In the Sixseri village of Sarpara Panchayat, the cloudburst washed away homes and cowsheds belonging to three families. One cow each belonging to Rajendra Kumar, Vinod Kumar, and Gopal Singh was swept away, along with two calves belonging to Rajendra. Fortunately, no loss of human life has been reported. The debris flowed into the Samej Khad, eventually merging with the Sutlej River.
In Bhattakufar’s Mathu Colony, a building that had developed cracks was evacuated on Sunday night as a precaution. On Monday morning, it collapsed due to continuous rainfall. Cracks have also been noticed in three to four adjacent buildings. Separately, a five-storey building in Bhattakufar collapsed in a similar fashion amid heavy rain.
Rampur has also been affected by infrastructure damage—34 power transformers and two drinking water supply schemes are currently non-functional due to the heavy downpour. In the Jalog area, a road accident caused by rain claimed two lives, while one person remains missing. Rescue and relief efforts are ongoing.
Due to intense rainfall, water was released from the Giri Jaton Dam in Sirmaur and the Pandoh Dam in Mandi, raising the water levels in the Giri and Beas rivers to dangerous levels. Authorities have issued alerts for low-lying areas.
As a precautionary measure, the state government has declared a holiday in all educational institutions today in Kangra, Mandi, Sirmaur, and in the Banjar and Manali subdivisions of Kullu district due to heavy rain and landslides.
The Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert for heavy rainfall across all 10 districts of the state—excluding Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur. A yellow alert for flash floods has also been issued for Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur, and Solan districts for the next 24 hours. The Met Department has forecast heavy rainfall to continue until July 6, with an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall on July 2.
In the last 24 hours, significant rainfall has been recorded at various locations: Pandoh (Mandi) received 123 mm, Mandi town 119 mm, Murari Devi 113 mm, Palampur (Kangra) 83 mm, and Ghumarwin (Bilaspur) 65 mm.
Conditions remain serious in Shimla as well. Water supply has been disrupted due to excessive silt accumulation in all major water treatment plants. According to the Shimla Jal Prabandhan Nigam (SJPNL), water supply may remain affected for the next two days.
As per the State Emergency Operations Centre, 129 roads across the state are currently blocked due to landslides, and over 600 power transformers are out of service. Between June 20 and 29, rain-related incidents have claimed 39 lives, injured 81 people, and left four missing. The estimated damage to public and private property has exceeded ₹75 crore so far.
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