As heavy rains lash Himachal Pradesh, social media is brimming with scary visuals showing the effect of this extreme weather event on livelihood in the region. Roads, homes, cars, bridges, everything has been swept away as rivers have swelled abnormally and are flowing at massive speeds taking with itself everything that falls in its way.
Here is all you need to know about these rains that have, in some places, surpassed 50-year-old records.
Himachal Pradesh received heavy rainfall to extremely heavy rainfall on Sunday prompting the Indian Meteorological Department to issue fresh red alerts in 10 out of the 12 districts in the state for the next 48 hours.
Also Read | Death, landslides, cave-ins: Himachal hit hard by rains, CM urges people to stay indoors for next 24 hours
On Sunday, the state saw six deaths due to rain-related accidents. As per officials, 54 people have so far died in Himachal since the onset of monsoon in the state which happened on June 24.
Till late on Sunday, 20 major landslides and 17 flash floods had been reported in the state in the past 48 hours.
CM Sukhu on Monday released a video message urging people to stay indoors for the next 24 hours. He also issued helpline numbers for emergencies. State authorities ordered the closure of schools and colleges for two days in view of the disaster.
Traffic has been affected massively with 765 roads including Chandigarh-Manali National Highway being closed following the torrential rains. Five national highways have also been at the receiving end of the rain pounding.
The national highways blocked included NH-21 Mandi to Kullu, NH-505 Gramphu to Locar, NH-03 Kullu to Manali, NH-305 Aut to Jalori and NH-707 Rohru to Poanta Sahib near Shillai in Sirmaur district.
National Highway 21 remains blocked at 6 Mile. This is the same place where the commuters were stuck for almost 24 hours on June 27 last due to a landslide.
Mandi-Kullu road via Kamand was also blocked near Ghoda farm. The Manali-Chandigarh road caved in as well near Manali.
Indian Railways has also been affected as the Northern Railways said on Sunday that it has cancelled around 17 trains and diverted around 12 others.
Hundreds of people were stranded in different parts of the state, including in Chandratal in Lahaul and Spiti and near Sadhupul in Solan district.
Solan received 135 mm of rain on Sunday, breaking a 50-year-old record of 105 mm of rain in a day in 1971, while Una received the highest rainfall after 1993, Director Local MeT office Shimla, Surender Paul told PTI.
Commuters in about 60 vehicles were struck near Sadhupul in Solan district due to a landslide.
(with PTI inputs)