Shimla:
Several parts of Himachal Pradesh experienced heavy rainfall during the past 24 hours, triggering landslides at various places and disrupting vehicular traffic in the state.
The Kullu-Manali-Rohtang highway was blocked for several hours due to landslides while hundreds of tourists remained stranded in the tribal Kaza area as landslides blocked the roads linking the valley from other parts of the state.
However, all the roads in the tribal areas and also the national highways were opened later.
"The traffic which was suspended since last night due to landslides was cleared this afternoon," Rakesh Kumar, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kaza said.
Meanwhile, traffic on the Chandigarh-Manali highway, which remained suspended for several hours due to a massive landslide near Mandi town, was resumed this evening after clearing the debris from the road.
"The highway was closed due to massive landslides triggered by incessant rain in the region for the past two days," a police official said.
The local MeT office has warned of heavy to very heavy rains in many parts of Himachal during the next 48 hours resulting in a sharp rise in levels of major rivers and their tributaries.
The tourist towns of Shimla, Narkanda, Kufri, Kalpa, Kasauli, Chamba, Dharamsala, Palampur and Manali may receive rains in the next few days, the MeT office added.
Mandi was the wettest in the region with 86 mm of rains while Sujanpur Tira had 80 mm of rains, followed by Malraun and Nehri 73 mm, Kahu 69 mm, Sihunta 59 mm, Sundernagar 52 mm, Shahpur 49 mm, Ramshar 34 mm, Gaggal Airport 33 mm, Thana Plaun Ghumarwin 28 mm and Dharamsala, Hamirpur and Berthin 22 mm each.