Met predicts rains till Sunday in Himachal Pradesh, over 30 roads closed

Shimla: Thirty-three roads are closed for vehicular traffic in Himachal Pradesh following rain with the local Met office predicting an extended wet spell in the state till Sunday.

Rain continued to lash parts of the state with Jogindernagar logging the highest rainfall of 80 mm since Thursday, followed by Palampur 79.8 mm, Baijnath 65 mm, Paonta Sahib 51.2 mm, and Shimla 34.9 mm.

Dehra Gopipur and Dhaulakuan recorded 27 mm of rain each, Gohar 25 mm, Una 23.4, Dharampur and Kasauli 16 mm each, Kangra 12.4 mm and Nahan 10 mm, officials said.

Twelve roads, the highest, were closed in Sirmaur, 10 in Kangra, eight in Mandi, two in Kullu and one in Shimla district, according to the state emergency operation centre which also said that eight power supply schemes have been affected by the rain.

Rain deficit from June 1 till date was 19 per cent with the state receiving 590.4 mm rainfall against an average of 729.5 mm, the weather office had said on Wednesday.

According to officials, 186 people died in rain-related incidents since the onset of monsoon in Himachal Pradesh on June 27 till Friday evening, while 28 were missing.

The state has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 1,360 crore, they said.

Tabo in Lahaul and Spiti was the coldest place in the state with a low of 8.2 degrees Celsius, while Bilaspur was the hottest with a maximum temperature of 32.7 degrees Celsius.