Light to moderate rains continued to lash several parts of the state
Shimla: A flash flood in a village in Haroli area of Himachal Pradesh’s Una district on Wednesday, July 5, damaged about 10 houses, the state emergency operation centre said, a report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
Light to moderate rains continued in several parts of the state and Palampur received 32 mm of rain followed by Nahan 22 mm, Mandi 14 mm, Una 13 mm and Kangra 9 mm.
The local Met office has issued a “yellow” alert for heavy rain, thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places in plains, low and mid hills till July 9 and predicted a wet spell in the state till July 11.
The department has warned of traffic congestion, poor visibility and disruption in water and electricity supply, and damage to standing crops, fruit plants and young seedlings.
“Monsoon has become active again and there could be incidents of flash floods and landslides. In view of this, tourists and local people should stay alert,” said Surender Paul, Director, Meteorological Centre, Shimla.
The weather department has issued a yellow alert for heavy rainfall, lightning and thunderstorm at isolated places in plains, low and mid hills over the next four days.
About eight to 10 houses were partially damaged in the flash floods in Khad village in Una, according to the state emergency operation centre.
Since the onset of monsoon on June 24, the state, till Tuesday, has suffered a loss to the tune of Rs 275.86 crores which includes a loss of Rs 144.04 crore to the Public Works Department (PWD) and Rs 100.97 to Jal Shakti Vibhag and 23 roads were still closed for traffic.
Disaster management authority being strengthened
Meanwhile, Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi said that the state government was taking necessary steps to deal with possible disasters in the state after presiding over the review meeting of Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) here today.
Stressing the need to strengthen the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Negi said that new recruitments were being made for the SDRF in the state.
“A total of 126 jawans have been given training by the 7th Battalion of the National Disaster Response Force in Bathinda. These jawans have also been sent to different places for advanced training,” said Negi.
He added: “A specialised training programme will be developed in consultation with the Disaster Management Cell as per the requirements and conditions of the state,” the minister said.
He said land had been identified by the SDMA for the construction of an SDRF battalion building at Palampur in Kangra, Pandoh in Mandi and Katasni in Shimla.
Gurugram waterlogged after 65 mm of rain
Gurugram: 65 mm rainfall that the city received on Wednesday, July 5, has led to massive waterlogging and traffic congestion.
The rain, which in the majority of the parts lasted for over 20 minutes, inundated roads, societies, mortuary and even police stations. The videos of the Signature Tower underpass turning into a waterfall and the Pataudi road, residential societies and school buses submerged in water, were trending on social media.
School children stuck for 2 hours
- High drama prevailed at Greenwood City in Sector 45 as around 35 children got stuck in school buses for over two hours near the society gate.
- With no rescue teams present at the spot, residents worked a way out together.
Along with Narsinghpur, MG Road and Sohna Road, the internal roads were waterlogged. The areas like Sector 31, Udyog Vihar, Rosewood City, Malibu Town, Sector 17 and old Gurugram also remained waterlogged for hours. A four-km long jam was reported from the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway and several bottlenecks were witnessed at exits like Rajeev Chowk.
Residents blamed the MC authorities and the GMDA for chaos, claiming that drains were not cleaned in time which led to a situation like this.
“The monsoon season is here and the majority of drains have not been cleaned. The MC officials did not issue work orders for the cleaning of drains in several areas, and now they cannot be cleaned. Every year the authorities concerned plan arrangements for the monsoons but fail to execute them. Erring officials must be penalised,” said former councillor Rama Rani Rathee.
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