Himachal rains: Landslide in Kullu village; alert for heavy rain in 4 districts on July 29

Himachal has been experiencing heavy rains for the past few days. (Image: PTI)

Residents of 11 houses were evacuated to a safer location after heavy rains triggered a landslide in a village in Kullu district on Saturday, an official said.

A transit camp was set up to accommodate around 20 people following the landslide on a hill behind Duridhar village in Sainj Valley.

"Our priority was to save lives, which we successfully achieved. They have been moved to a transit camp established at the public works department's rest house. The area's technical assessment will be conducted soon," Kullu Deputy Commissioner Tarul S Raveesh said.

Sainj panchayat pradhan Bhagat Ram Azaad recounted the incident, stating that stones began falling on the village as a portion of the hill started sliding down. Acting swiftly, the authorities evacuated all families from the area.

Himachal has been experiencing heavy rains for the past few days. As of Saturday evening, a total of 213 roads, including two national highways, had been closed to vehicular traffic due to the rain, officials said.

In the disaster-hit Mandi district alone, where multiple cloudbursts caused significant damage on the night of June 30, approximately 140 roads, including the Manali-Kotali road (NH-70), were closed.

National Highway (305), connecting Sainj to Aut, has been blocked at Kekhsu and Jhed due to landslides caused by recent heavy rains in Kullu district.

According to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), 31 power distribution transformers and 141 water supply schemes have also been affected across the state.

Since the onset of monsoon in the state on June 20 to date, as many as 82 people have died and 34 have gone missing in rain-related incidents. The state has experienced 42 flash floods, 25 cloudbursts and 32 landslides during this monsoon, resulting in losses of the tune of Rs 1,436 crore, the SEOC stated.

Meanwhile, light to moderate rains have been received at several places since Friday evening. Additionally, thunderstorms lashed Sundernagar, Shimla and Jubbarhatti.

The local MeT office has issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rains at isolated areas in four districts -- Chamba, Kangra, Mandi and Kullu -- on July 29 (Tuesday).

Keylong was the coldest at night, recording a low of 12.9 degrees Celsius, while Una was the hottest in the day with a high of 36.8 degrees Celsius.