Himachal Pradesh monsoon: 124 roads blocked, 255 DTRs down, 155 deaths reported

The State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC), in its latest report, shows that 124 roads are blocked, and 255 distribution transformer regions (DTRs) are out of service across Himachal Pradesh due to torrential rains.

According to the report which covers the monsoon situation through August 9, Mandi was the worst-affected district in terms of road blockages, with 51 roads closed, followed by Kullu with 39 and Shimla with 13.

The data shows that road disruptions were also reported in Chamba with seven roads blocked, Sirmaur with six, Kangra with five, Lahaul and Spiti with four and Una with three.


Read more: MeT forecasts heavy rain in three Himachal districts over next 2 days; orange alert issued

The release shows extensive disruption of the power distribution network, with 255 DTRs affected across the state. The data shows that Mandi accounted for 245 of these outages, including 163 in Sundernagar and 63 in Mandi sub-divisions. Kalpa in Kinnaur, Chopal in Shimla and Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur reported transformer disruptions, with four, three and three DTRs affected respectively.

Disruptions in water supply schemes have been reported, with up to 17 water supply schemes which include12 in Shimla and five in Hamirpur remaining affected.

Human deaths stand at 155 according to the cumulative monsoon disaster report, which includes 68 disaster-related fatalities and 87 deaths in road accidents.

Incidents including landslides, falling trees and rocks, drowning, flash floods and fires have contributed disaster-related deaths to 68. The highest contributor to the toll being Mandi reporting 14 deaths which is followed by Kangra at 11, Chamba and Shimla reaching nine, and Kullu with eight.

Read more: 162 roads closed in Himachal Pradesh; Meteorological department issues orange alert for heavy rain on August 10, 11

According to the report, an additional 87 deaths have been caused by road accidents. The highest number of road accident fatalities comes from Chamba at 15, followed by Kullu and Shimla with 12 each and Kangra with 10.

The cumulative loss to public departments, agriculture and private property is estimated to be Rs. 83,526.19 lakhs.

The largest share of reported losses were suffered by the Public Works Department, at Rs. 61,585.43 lakhs, wherein, the Jal Shakti Vibhag were hit by Rs. 19,986.05 lakhs worth of damage.

Residential and commercial structures were also severely damaged by the monsoon. The torrential rains claimed as many as 213 houses were completely damaged and 620 partially damaged, while 256 kaccha and pucca huts and 22 shops were affected.

The disasters caused by the rain caused the deaths of 200 animals and damage to 160 animal sheds across the state.

Local administration and emergency services are working to clear blocked roads, restore electricity supply and repair drinking water infrastructure.Officials said that key road links and essential public utilities in the worst-affected subdivisions have been prioritised for restoration work.