Heavy rains trigger landslides in Himachal Pradesh; schools & colleges closed on August 14 | India News

NEW DELHI: All schools and colleges in Himachal Pradesh will be closed on August 14 due to incessant rainfall, the state government announced on Sunday.

Heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh in the past 24 hours have triggered landslides and uprooted trees, damaging houses and vehicles and blocking 150 roads.
In a rain-related incident on Sunday, a conductor of a private bus was injured when a tree got uprooted and fell on the vehicle near ISBT here, officials said.

A total of 452 roads, including a maximum of 236 in Mandi, 59 in Shimla and 40 in Bilaspur district are now closed for vehicular traffic, according to the state emergency operation centre.
Reports of damage to houses and agricultural land are also pouring in from several places in the Mandi district, including Chatru Panchayat in the Balh area and Lot and Dhishit panchayats in the Gohar area.
Incessant rains for the last 48 hours have caused havoc in all parts of the Hamirpur district, leading to a spate in the Beas river and its tributaries. The worst affected are the areas where the nullahs of Maan and Kunah are located, officials said.
The rains and landslides have caused widespread damage to crops, fertile land and official and private buildings in all parts of Hamirpur. The district administration has warned the people not to venture out and avoid going near the Beas riverbank and nullahs.
Since the monsoon’s onset in Himachal Pradesh on June 24 till August 12, the hill state has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 6,807 crore and 255 persons have died in rain-related incidents and road accidents.
The local MeT office has issued an orange warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall on Sunday and a yellow warning of heavy rains on Monday.
Meanwhile, veteran BJP leader and former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Shanta Kumar on Sunday praised the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government for doing an “excellent job” in dealing with the devastation caused by heavy rains in the state.
He also called for government-Opposition cooperation in this time of emergency.
“The government is coping with the disaster in a good way. The government should seek cooperation from the opposition and the entire opposition should help the government,” Shanta Kumar said.
“I congratulate the government for the manner in which thousands of tourists have been evacuated from difficult areas. I would like to see the whole state fighting this disaster unitedly,” he added.