Snowfall, landslide and floods paralyze Himachal

Manali: Heavy snowfall, flood & landslide has troubled the regular life of Himachal Pradesh. Most of the highways & links roads have been blocked, flights has been canceled, hundreds of tourists are stranded on highways & many trekkers, shepherds have been feared trapped between snows in mountains.

Rohtang Pass has received more than one foot snow & the entire Lahaul-Spiti district has been covered with a thick blanket of snow. The Manali-Leh highway has been blocked due to heavy snowfalls on Rohtang Pass & Baralacha-La. At many of the places the highways have been broke due to heavy landslides. After landslide on the Chandigarh-Manali highway no. 21 since Saturday morning, the tourists are stuck at the highway between Aut & Mandi. In Thalout, the destructive Beas River has engulfed about 15 meter of highway road. Meanwhile, the trekkers & shepherds are in fear with their sheeps in the whiteout of the mountains. The exact figure will be clear when the snowfall will be a bit minimized.

Mandi deputy commissioner Devesh Kumar said heavy rainfall from the past 24 hours has created lot of nuisances in the state. “It’s raining hard here. A person is reported dead in Aut who attempted to reach near flooded river & rock hit him. Some huts near the Mandi temple have washed away by the force of the rain water & the highways are blocked since Friday.” He also added that police force, SDMs & all officials have been deployed to check the disasters caused by nature’s fury.

Kullu deputy commissioner BM Nanta said that Manali-Leh highway has been closed due to the safety of the people. “Rohtang is experiencing heavy snowfall. A woman is killed after a rock hit her in a remote village of Manikaran Valley. Currently there is no more bad news from the state,” he said. About 50 foreigners are stranded in Lahaul-Spiti & Sarchu near Baralacha-La. Communication mediums in the state have been disturbed since Friday. District chief medical officer, Shamsher Singh Pujara said that, “Cold waves are back here. Roads have been blocked from both sides. Two to eight inch of snow has covered entire district. It may prove fatal for apple, peas and all other cash crops."

Article viewed at: Oye! Times at www.oyetimes.com