Samej, Himachal Pradesh:

A catastrophic cloudburst occurred near the Samej and Bagi bridges on Wednesday night washing away 45 people near Shrikhand in Himachal Pradesh.

Rescue operations in the disaster-affected area are underway.

Baljinder Singh, 14th Battalion Commandant, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said that the NDRF teams were sent well-prepared to Himachal Pradesh this year to ensure no delay in the rescue operations.

Speaking to ANI, Singh said “This year, the NDRF teams were sent to remote locations in Himachal Pradesh to ensure there is no delay in the rescue operations. The Samej cloudburst that has taken place is a huge disaster.”

Further, he added that 13 bodies were recovered by Thursday morning.

“We have recovered 13 dead bodies as of now. Four dead bodies were recovered earlier. Ten more people were missing, and we have found nine bodies as of now. One person has still not been found. We will make sure the rescue operations are carried out properly,” he said.

Earlier, on August 7, the IMD reported significant rainfall across the state, with Joginder Nagar in Mandi district experiencing the highest at 110 MM in 24 hours

Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD Himachal Pradesh, said that alerts were issued for various regions on Wednesday.

“We have recorded the highest rainfall at Joginder Nagar in Mandi district at 110 mm during the past 24 hours. It is heavy rainfall, and in Sirmaur district, we have received heavy rainfall,” Dr. Srivastava stated.

“In other parts of the state, there has been moderate rainfall. Nearly 75 per cent of areas have received between 30 mm to 50 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours,” Srivastava told ANI. The IMD has issued an orange alert for the lower Himalayan districts of Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Chamba, and Mandi.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Shimla/Manali:

A stretch of the National Highway-3 was closed for vehicular traffic following a flash flood triggered by a cloudburst in Himachal’s Kullu district, police said on Thursday.

No casualty has so far been reported in the incident that occurred late Wednesday, they said.

According to officials, the stretch between Dhundi and Palchan Bridge on NH-3, also known as Leh-Manali Road, was affected due to the cloudburst at Anjani Mahadev nullah in the Manali area.

Vehicles headed to Manali from Lahaul and Spiti via the north portal of the Atal Tunnel have been diverted towards Rohtang, the Lahaul and Spiti police said in an advisory on Thursday.

It also asked the commuters to travel only if necessary, drive cautiously, and stay aware of the possible danger en route.

A total of 15 roads, including 12 in Mandi, two in Kinnaur and one in Kangra district were closed for vehicular traffic while 62 transformers were disrupted in the state on Wednesday night, the state emergency operation centre said.

There have been reports of damage to a power project and a few houses but these are yet to be confirmed by officials who are assessing the damage.

The local Met office on Wednesday issued a ‘yellow’ alert of heavy rain at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh for the next four days till July 28. It cautioned about damage to plantations and standing crops, vulnerable structures and ‘kutcha’ houses in the state due to strong winds and waterlogging in low-lying areas.

A total of 49 people have died in rain-related incidents in the state, which has suffered losses of approximately Rs 389 crore, since the onset of monsoon on June 27, the emergency operation centre said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)