Cloudburst near Rampur damages roads, water schemes in apple belt

Ashish Negi

Rampur, August 17

A cloudburst at Dhamrali village near Rampur in Shimla district on Friday night caused significant damage to roads in the apple belt. As a result, traffic on the Rampur to Taklech sub-tehsil and Rampur to Rohru routes was disrupted. Water supply lines were also affected. Meanwhile, electricity and telephone services were restored and efforts were on to reopen roads.

Rampur MLA Nand Lal along with the Shimla Deputy Commissioner and the SP reached the incident site. The MLA said that the damage caused by the cloudburst was being assessed. He confirmed that cloudbursts occurred in Theda and Dhamrali areas, leading to heavy water flow damaging roads. He assured the affected people that efforts were being made to restore the main road as quickly as possible to reestablish access to Taklech sub-tehsil and the Rohru road.

Water level of streams rose

At one location, the water flow increased significantly, leading to floods downstream and substantial damage to road and other infrastructure. Friday night, the water flow in the Dhamrali, Chikri and Taklech streams increased substantially that also brought down a lot of debris. Anupam Kashyap, Deputy Commissioner

Shimla Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap said that cloudbursts and flashfloods were occurring frequently. “At one location, the water flow increased significantly, leading to floods downstream and substantial damage to road and other infrastructure. Friday night, the water flow in the Dhamrali, Chikri and Taklech streams increased substantially that also brought down a lot of debris. It is being confirmed whether this incident occurred due to a cloudburst or simply an increase in the water level in the streams. Roads have been blocked at four locations,” he added.

An affected villager, Mir Hamza, said that his house was in danger after its surrounding land was washed away in the cloudburst. Honey Kaysth, another local, said that he had been stranded since last night. He had gone to Nogli but on his way back, he got stuck due to the cloudburst, which led to the closure of the road. He added that the cloudburst had caused significant problems as the apple season was in full swing.

Labourer Kamal said that roads were blocked due to debris brought down by the flashfloods, making it impossible to walk.

Another villager Sanjay Kumar said that he was a witness to the cloudburst. The road suffered extensive damage, as its several stretches washed away. He hoped that since the apple season was in full swing, the government would restore the roads as soon as possible.