Adverse weather will prevail till June 16 with heavy to very heavy rain likely in most parts of the hill state: Meteorological department
Torrential rain and strong winds wreaked havoc in parts of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday night.
Kangra town received the highest 103mm of rainfall followed by Palampur and Paonta Sahib that got 70mm each. Dharamshala received 58mm of rainfall, Malan and Arki 44mm each, Shahpur 38mm, Joginderngar 33.5mm, Sundernagar 17mm and Sarkaghat 16mm. State capital Shimla got 11mm of rainfall.
The meteorological department has forecast heavy to very heavy rains over the coming days. “Adverse weather will prevail till June 16 with heavy to very heavy rain likely in most parts of Himachal Pradesh,” said Shimla meteorological centre director Manmohan Singh.
A yellow weather warning for thunderstorms and lightning has been issued till June 13.
Livestock bear brunt in Baijnath
Nearly 300 sheep and goats were killed by lightning in the Manai Dhar area of Baijnath subdivision.
The livestock belonged to a shepherd, Thothi Ram, of Gwaltikkar. Ram was camping on a hill with his herd of 350 sheep when the thunderstorm struck.
Baijnath sub-divisional magistrate Saleem Azam said a team of revenue officials will visit the spot to assess the loss.
A cow was killed when lightning struck Tiara village in the sub division.
Rain triggers flashflood in Chamba
Heavy rain triggered a flashflood at Sindhua village of Dharwala in Chamba district. The floodwater entered houses, causing damage to property.
Vehicles were damaged by hailstorm in Amb and Gagret areas of Una district.
Sach Pass road to Pangi opened
The state public works department has restored the Chamba-Pangi-via Sach Pass road after eight months. Sach Pass road is the shortest route to snowbound tribal Pangi valley and closes in November every year following heavy snowfall.
Over 20,000 people in 16 panchayats of Pangi remain cut off from the rest of the state due to the closure of the road. Two other routes via Lahaul-Spiti-Manali and Gulabgarh-Kishtwar-Jammu remain open, but the journey is more than 600 km.
The distance between Chamba and Pangi via the 4414m high Sach Pass is 127 km.
PWD executive engineer Dev Raj Bhatia said that they planned to open the road by the first week of June, but the snow-clearing work was delayed due to machinery breakdown.
