Landslides blocked Chandigarh-Manali higheway in Himachal Pradesh
A giant truck is crumpled by falling debris like a cardboard box under rocks: the unbelievable sight unfolded in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday as a landslide came crashing on a highway connecting Pathankot and Dalhousie, blocking all traffic. The heart-stopping moment was recorded by a witness.
Heavy rain has pounded Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and western Uttar Pradesh for the last one week. Landslides along the Beas River have left hundreds stranded.
A stretch of nearly 100 metres of the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway was badly damaged near Aut in Mandi district last night. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on both sides of the affected area.
District authorities claimed that traffic was partially restored for small vehicles through diversions on alternate roads.
"JCB machines are trying to clear the debris and traffic is likely to restored by afternoon," said a district official.
The Chamba-Pathankot highway is closed due to landslide at Donalia, in Chamba. Officials of the Public Works Department said a truck was buried under the debris but no one has been injured.
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and district authorities have deployed equipment to remove the debris, said the official.
The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a red alert and warned of heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places in Uttarakhand and western Uttar Pradesh.
Himachal Pradesh has seen the maximum rainfall this monsoon season. Shimla saw the heaviest rainfall on a single day after 1901, on August 12 and 13. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Friday said that the state had suffered a loss of Rs 990 crore due to monsoon rain. As many as 35 people have died in the state since the beginning of the rainy season.
(With inputs from IANS and ANI)