Shimla
A yellow alert for rain has been issued in seven districts of Himachal Pradesh today on July 17. The Meteorological Department has warned that heavy rains may occur in Una, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Chamba, Kangra, Kullu and Mandi districts today. Apart from this, the yellow alert situation will remain in Chamba, Kangra, Kullu and Mandi districts on July 18 and 19 as well. Rain is expected in Sirmaur district on July 20, while the weather will be clear or lightly cloudy in other districts. But an orange alert for heavy rain has been issued again on July 21 and 22.
Within the last 24 hours, heavy rains occurred in many areas of Sirmaur district. Nahan recorded 22.9 mm, and Dhaula Kuan 17 mm, while Dharamshala recorded 17.1 mm of rain. At the same time, tourists were seen roaming amidst the fog on the Ridge ground of Shimla.
However, Himachal Pradesh has received 26% less rainfall than normal during the last week. Between 9 and 16 July, where the normal rainfall of 59.7 mm was expected, only 44.3 mm was recorded. Still, some districts received more than average rainfall. Kullu received 125% more rainfall than normal, Shimla 59% and Mandi 38%.
On the contrary, Chamba has seen the least rainfall—68% less than normal, i.e., only 22.4 mm of rain was recorded as against 70.8 mm. Similarly, Kangra district received 61% less rainfall than normal, Una 84%, Hamirpur 18%, Sirmaur 23%, and Solan 40% less rainfall.
This monsoon season (20 June to 16 July) has been quite damaging. Heavy rains and cloudbursts have caused damage to government and private property worth Rs 820 crore so far. During this period, 106 people died, out of which 24 people died due to landslides, floods and cloudbursts; 34 people are still missing, and 44 people died in road accidents.
