Devastating visuals showing rain’s fury in Himachal Pradesh have surfaced over the internet on Sunday. Amid news of the Manali-Chandigarh Highway being shut following landslides, a shocking video which is reportedly from Manali’s Bahang has come to the fore.
In the footage posted on Twitter on Sunday morning, water currents can be seen washing away a small commercial building standing on the bank of a river. The building had an SBI ATM outlet and two other stores which were pulled back and crushed in a matter of seconds as locals watched in horror, the video showed.
Watch the video here:
Meanwhile, water entered the premises of Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib in Manali, and its main entrance submerged under the heavy flow of water, reported a journalist on Twitter along with visuals.
As per reports, many tourist cars parked on the Beas River bank washed away in Manali. The footage of the incident posted on Twitter shows at least 8-10 cars flowing the river.
Watch the video here:
A landslide kills three of a family
In the Kotgarh area of Shimla district, heavy rains triggered a landslide that resulted in the collapse of a house, claiming the lives of three family members. Anil, his wife Kiran, and their son Swapnil were identified as the deceased individuals, according to officials. Additionally, a makeshift house near Kullu town was also damaged by a landslide, leading to the death of a woman.
Another unfortunate incident took place in Katiyan tehsil of Chamba, where a person was tragically buried alive during a landslide on Saturday night. Over the past 36 hours, the state emergency operation center has reported thirteen landslides and nine flash floods across the state.
Due to heavy overnight rainfall, landslides along the swollen Beas river in Himachal Pradesh have resulted in the blocking of traffic on the Chandigarh-Manali national highway between Mandi and Kullu. The landslide near Pandoh in Mandi district caused severe damage to the national highway, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded in the affected area.
Watch the landslide video here:
Police have halted vehicular traffic beyond Mandi towards Kullu and from Kullu towards Mandi.
In another incident, six people were evacuated safely by a team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) on Sunday who were trapped in their homes due to the rise in the water in the lower market of Pandoh in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh.
"Today, on Sunday at around 07:15 in the morning, according to the information received from the District Disaster Management Authority, Mandi, six people were trapped in their homes due to the rise in the water level of Vyas River in the lower market of Pandoh. Safely evacuated by the SDRF Mandi team," HP SDRF tweeted.
HP Traffic, Tourist and Railways police on Sunday informed that due to ongoing heavy rains and waterlogging, the train movement on the Shimla-Kalka heritage rail track is cancelled.
"Train movement on the Shimla-Kalka heritage rail track is cancelled for today due to ongoing heavy rains and subsequent slides and waterlogging," HP Traffic, Tourist and Railways Police tweeted.
The railway track has also been closed between Koti and Sanwara railway stations at Tunnel No. 10 due to heavy rainfall on the Kalka-Shimla railway route in Himachal Pradesh.
Early on Sunday morning, heavy rain persisted in various parts of the national capital and its surrounding areas, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The IMD has predicted that New Delhi will continue to experience high-intensity showers for the next two days. In a tweet, the IMD mentioned that thunderstorms accompanied by light to moderate rain are expected in isolated places in Delhi and its adjoining areas. Specific locations such as Narela, Alipur, Rohini, Badili, Pitampura, Paschim Vihar, Punjabi Bagh, Kashmiri Gate, Seelampur, Rajauri Garden, Red Fort, Rajeev Chauk, ITO, and Jafarpur have been identified as areas where rainfall is likely.
The IMD has issued a red alert for seven districts in Himachal Pradesh and an orange alert for three districts over the next 48 hours due to heavy rainfall in the state. The IMD has also issued alerts regarding the possibility of flash floods and landslides in the region.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
