SHIMLA, Aug. 16 — Torrential rains continued to batter Himachal Pradesh, leaving more than 313 roads across the state blocked and disrupting essential services, officials said Saturday.
According to data from the State Emergency Operation Centre, Mandi district has been the worst hit, with 175 roads closed. In Kullu, 64 roads — including National Highway 305 — remain impassable, while 25 are blocked in Kangra, 12 in Chamba, 13 in Shimla, seven each in Una and Sirmaur, four in Lahaul and Spiti, three in Kinnaur — including National Highway 5 — two in Solan and one in Bilaspur.
Power and water supply have also taken a hit. As many as 348 distribution transformers are out of service, most of them in Mandi district, where 322 units remain shut down. Other outages were reported in Kinnaur (11), Kullu (7), Lahaul and Spiti (6) and Chamba (2). At the same time, 119 water supply schemes have been disrupted, including 44 in Mandi, 41 in Kangra, 11 in Shimla, nine in Kullu, seven in Chamba, three in Hamirpur and one in Solan.
The state meteorological department has extended yellow weather warnings for several districts until August 19, cautioning of continued heavy rainfall. For August 17, alerts are in effect for Shimla, Mandi, Kangra, Chamba and Sirmaur.
“Light to moderate rainfall with spells of heavy to very heavy rain at isolated locations is expected to continue in the state until August 22,” the department said. Officials also noted that maximum temperatures are likely to rise by 2°C to 3°C during this period, while minimum temperatures will remain within normal range.
In the past 24 hours, widespread rainfall was recorded across Himachal. Naina Devi in Bilaspur registered the heaviest downpour at 160 mm, followed by Palampur in Kangra at 101.4 mm. Other major rainfall figures included Pandoh in Mandi (70 mm), Mandi town (62.4 mm), Nalagarh (30 mm), Dharamsala (28.4 mm), Bilaspur (25.8 mm), Nahan (22.9 mm), Sujanpur Tira (20 mm), Paonta Sahib (19.4 mm), Kasauli (11.2 mm), Kangra (9.2 mm), Chamba (4 mm) and Manali (1.3 mm).
Authorities said road-clearing and restoration work is underway but warned that continuous rains could slow the process and pose further risks.
