Shimla, July 9
Incessant heavy rain over the past 24 hours caused flash floods in several tributaries of the Sutlej.
According to reports reaching here, the Spiti, the Ralang and the Mangladh, the three main tributaries of the river, were in spate and the water level was rising in the river.
The Beas and the Saketi Khud were in spate following heavy rain, which damaged 24 houses in the Mewa and Bamsen areas.
Some houses were endangered due to sinking of land in Sarakaghat and the Chamba-Tissa road was blocked after a landslide near Rajpur.
Landslides blocked several roads in interior areas, disrupting vehicular traffic.
Shimla recorded 80 mm of rain, Sundernagar 67.5 mm, Nagrota Suriyan 54 mm and Palampur 34 mm.
Sangla: Water level in the Sutlej went up to an alarming level after a cloudburst on the Kinner Kailash range around 1 pm brought in a huge amount of slushy water into the river through many channels.
A bridge in the Sangla valley was partially damaged and a part of the Army unit at Shongtang was evacuated as a precautionary measure, but no casualty was reported.
Power generation was shut in the 1500-MW Nathpa-Jhakhri and the 300-MW Baspa-II power plants.
All gates of the dam of the Nathpa-Jhakri plant were opened as a precautionary measure. An alert was sounded in the low-lying areas of Kinnaur and Rampur Bushahr along the Sutlej.
The administration asked people living in low-lying areas to shift to safer places as a precautionary measure.
Boulders flowing in the slush struck the boundary wall
of the building of the Army unit at the Raldang-Barang Nullah in Shontang.Everybody rushed outside to safer places and a portion of the Army unit, including the canteen and the dispensary, was evacuated within minutes.
The Army took over the control of road traffic and stopped all vehicles plying on the National Highway 22 as a precautionary measure.
Reports of huge amounts of slush pouring into the Sutlej also came in from Tangling and near Karcham.
The fast-flowing slush struck the Sangla-Chitkul road at two points in the Sangla valley.
Two stretches of the road, one about 40 metres and the other about 10 metres, were washed away.
Traffic on this road was disrupted as Chitkul, the last village on the Indian side of the border with China, was cut off from the rest of the country.
The Tong Tong Chee Nullah in the Sangla valley partially damaged a bridge in the valley.
Efforts were initiated by the administration to strengthen the base of the bridge.
The situation of water discharge into the Baspa, a tributary of the Sutlej, was alarming.
The discharge was around 110 cubic metres per second, against normal discharge of 70 cubic metres per second.
The water discharge and silt content in the Sutlej beyond Shontang increased alarmingly.
The discharge recorded at Nathpa at 4 pm was 1,245 cubic metres per second while the silt content was more than 14,000 particles per minute, against the permissible limit of 4,000 particles per minute.
Kangra: Life was thrown out of gear in the Kangra valley following heavy rain since Saturday night, which disrupted vehicular traffic on various highways.
Rail traffic on the Pathankot-Jogindernagar track was disrupted due to landslides and floods.
A total of 42 cattle heads were killed due to heavy rain in Sadhu and Kuding Jaisinghpur villages.
Traffic on the Kangra-Shimla highway was disrupted near Bajjreshwari Ghat for a few hours due to a landslide.
Flood water blocked the Kangra-Hoshiarpur highway at the Bhathu bridge for some time.
Heavy rain also disrupted traffic near Rajiana on the Pathankot-Mandi highway.
Vehicular traffic was also disrupted near Samloti bridge on the Pathankot-Mandi highway due to a landslide.
Palampur: Palampur and its adjoining areas received heavy rain for the past 24 hours, paralysing normal life.
Power supply and the telecommunication system were adversely affected.
Vehicular traffic in several parts were affected on account of heavy landslides.
Three deodar trees were uprooted here, damaging power supply lines, and a tree damaged the lines near Dehan.
Vehicular traffic on the Palampur-Kandi, Palampur-Barot, Palampur-Jalag and Palampur-Langa roads was suspended due to landslides.
Mandi: The moderate to heavy rain during the past 48 hours in the region today triggered landslides, blocking traffic on the Mandi-Jogindernagar highway for at least an hour.
The NTPC and the BBMB put its disaster management teams on high alert as the Sutlej and the Beas started swelling.
Two villagers, trapped along the surging Suketi, a tributary of the Beas, were rescued safely by the villagers.
The HRTC suspended its services on the two routes — Neri-Nirlay and Jogindernagar-Mandi via Nouli road — following the landslides.
The traffic on Kulu-Manikaran and Karsog-Rowanda-Mandi roads was also blocked for some hours.
BBMB sources revealed that the inflow in the Bhakra dam was recorded at 55,000 cusecs today, against 41,000 cusecs the day before.
