SHIMLA: Heavy rain triggered landslides and flash floods in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday, blocking as many as 129 roads, including the Chandigarh-Shimla highway, and the Kalka-Shimla heritage railway line. There will be no respite on Monday either as the weather department has issued a red alert.A landslide at Chakki Mod near Parwanoo blocked Chandigarh-Shimla highway for hours, resulting in daylong traffic jams. In 2023, a massive landslide in the same area had wiped away an entire stretch of the highway, and it took National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) several months to fully restore the road.Landslides also struck Shimla-Chamyana and Arki-Shalaghat roads in Solan, blocking traffic for hours. The highest number of blocked roads, 57, were in Sirmaur district, followed by 44 in Mandi and 19 in Kullu. The rain also disrupted movement of six trains on the heritage line as boulders and uprooted trees fell on the tracks. “We cleared the tracks by 9am, and thereafter all our trains were back on track,” said an official. Flash floods swept through many districts, including Mandi and Hamirpur, as even rivulets were in spate. In Bilaspur district, the under-construction railway tunnel in Jagatkhana was flooded. The flood gates of Pandoh dam in Mandi district were opened.According to Shimla Met office, Solan district recorded the highest rainfall of 98.3mm on Sunday, followed by 73.2mm in Mandi, 63.4mm in Sirmaur, 42.8mm in Shimla, 38.7mm in Bilaspur, 32.2mm in Hamirpur, and 30.8mm in Kangra district. Overall, the state recorded an average rainfall of 22.3mm, which was 313% more than the normal of 5.4mm.There’s an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall on Monday in Una, Bilaspur, Kangra, Mandi, Solan and Sirmaur districts.According to the State Emergency Operation Centre, there have been 20 monsoon-related deaths since June 20 in Himachal Pradesh.
