Several vehicles were buried under debris and farmland was damaged after a cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district early Saturday, officials said.
The incident took place around 3 am in Gutrahan village, under the Naina Devi assembly constituency. Luckily, no loss of life has been reported.
“The gushing water carried huge amounts of debris, which spread across agricultural land,” said Kashmir Singh, a local farmer whose land and crops were hit.
Deputy Commissioner Bilaspur, Rahul Kumar, said four vehicles were buried. He added that a survey is being carried out to assess crop losses, and relief will be given once the report is ready.
As soon as the information was received, officials reached the site to take stock of the situation. The Public Works Department started clearing debris to restore road connectivity at the earliest.
There are also reports of water and debris damaging houses in Mamal and Kamlari villages of Bhattiyat assembly constituency in Chamba district.
In Shimla, thick fog reduced visibility to just a few metres, creating trouble for motorists.
The weather office has issued a yellow alert for heavy rain in isolated areas of the state for Saturday and Sunday.
Meanwhile, light to moderate showers continued across several regions. Palampur recorded 86 mm rainfall since Friday evening, Murari Devi 69.2 mm, Kangra 58.2 mm, Jogindernagar 45 mm, Aghar 16.8 mm, Naina Devi 16.6 mm, Dharamshala 14.8 mm, and Mandi 13.6 mm.
By Saturday morning, 577 roads were closed, including the Attari-Leh stretch of NH-3, the Aut-Sainj section of NH-305, and the Amritsar-Bhota stretch of NH-503A.
Around 389 power transformers and 333 water supply schemes have also been disrupted by recent floods and landslides, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).
Since the start of the monsoon on June 20, 386 people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents and road accidents across Himachal Pradesh. The total loss to the state so far has been estimated at Rs 4,465 crore, officials said.
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