Kinnaur cut off after landslip at Negulsari

Kinnaur district was cut off from Shimla after a massive landslide blocked the National Highway-5 (Hindustan-Tibet road) at Negulsari early Tuesday morning, officials said. However, no one was injured in the incident.

Due to the landslide, a large number of tourist vehicles and apple-laden trucks were stranded on both sides of the highway.

Efforts to clear the highway were underway but debris rolling down the hills was obstructing the work, the officials said.

After a landslide at Negulsari last year, alternative arrangements were made for transporting cash crops and ensuring that farmers’ produce reached market on time. But moving apple through the ropeway set up between Krampa in Negulsari and Dhumti on the Chaura-Rupi link road was a tough and time-consuming task.

Meanwhile, the weather in Himachal Pradesh was dry in the past 24 hours. The conditions were favourable for the further withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from more regions during the next two or three days, the local Met office said.

According to officials, 186 people had died in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh since the onset of the monsoon in the hill state on June 27, while 28 were still missing. The state had suffered losses to the tune of Rs 1,360 crore due to the rains.

The rain deficit in the current monsoon season was 18 per cent.

Tabo in Lahaul and Spiti was the coldest place in the state at 4.5°C while Una was the hottest at 35°C.