Red Alert in Himachal: Heavy Rainfall Continues; 666 Roads, Including 4 National Highways, Blocked

Himachal Pradesh, which has already suffered extensive damage to life and property from incessant rains, is bracing for more as the state’s weather department has issued a red alert for several districts over the next two days.

For September 1, a red alert has been issued for Mandi, Kangra, Sirmaur, Una, Hamirpur, and Bilaspur, warning of very heavy rainfall in parts of these districts. An orange alert has also been sounded for Shimla, Kullu, Chamba, Kinnaur, and Lahaul-Spiti, while Solan is under a yellow alert.

For September 2, red alerts are in place for Chamba, Mandi, Kullu, and Kangra, while Shimla, Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, and Sirmaur are under orange alert. Solan will remain under a yellow alert that day.

With the forecast of heavy rainfall, several districts, including Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, and Salooni in Chamba, have declared a closure of all schools and colleges on September 1.

Meanwhile, torrential rains have severely disrupted connectivity across Himachal Pradesh. As of Sunday, 666 roads, including four national highways, remain blocked, while at least 985 power distribution transformers are out of service.

According to the State Emergency Operation Centre, the road closures include 253 in Chamba, 204 in Mandi (including NH-03), 176 in Kullu (including NH-305), 69 in Shimla, 61 in Kangra, 30 in Solan, 29 in Sirmaur (including NH-707), 23 in Una, 11 in Lahaul-Spiti, five in Bilaspur, two in Kinnaur (including NH-05), and one in Hamirpur.

In Kinnaur, the district administration has ordered the closure of NH-05 at Nigulsari from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. until further notice due to the risk of landslides and falling rocks. Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar has instructed the Superintendent of Police to deploy adequate forces at vulnerable spots to regulate traffic and directed the SDM Bhavnagar to ensure proper lighting in affected areas for safety.

In Shimla, landslides blocked the Cart Road and the Vikasnagar–Panthaghati route, causing traffic disruptions for several hours.

Rainfall activity has been widespread across the state in the past 24 hours, with Malraon village in Bilaspur recording the highest at 90 mm. Other major figures include 45.4 mm in Kangra, 37.2 mm in Una, 35 mm in Kufri, 32 mm in Palampur, 18.2 mm in Shimla, 18 mm in Manali, 15.8 mm in Mandi, 13.8 mm in Sundernagar, 12.6 mm in Paonta Sahib, 8.8 mm in Dharamshala, 8 mm in Kasauli, and 4.4 mm in Solan.