Shimla, Aug 14 (PTI) Occupants of a bus in Himachal Pradesh had a narrow escape after a landslide struck on Friday near the Bilaspur-Solan border between Bhararighat and Nalag areas, a purported video of the incident circulated online showed. The Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus was about to cross the stretch when the landslide occurred. Heavy traffic was on the road when the landslip struck, but there were no casualties, officials said.
The purported video showed people running to safety and shouting at others to remove vehicles from the stretch.
Work on four-laning the road is underway at the site, and frequent landslides have been reported along the stretch. On Tuesday, a rock fell onto a moving vehicle on the same stretch, resulting in the death of one person and injuries to two others.
Meanwhile, as many as 114 roads were closed in Himachal Pradesh, while 250 water supply schemes and 10 power transformers were disrupted following torrential rains. Thirty-nine roads were blocked in Mandi, followed by 33 in Kullu, 13 in Shimla, nine in Chamba, six each in Kangra and Una, five in Sirmaur, two in Lahaul and Spiti and one in Kinnaur district on Friday evening, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).
Moderate to heavy rains lashed parts of Himachal Pradesh since Thursday evening, with Dharamshala receiving 92.1 mm of rainfall, followed by Naina Devi (44.6 mm), Jogindernagar (35 mm), Nalagarh (34 mm), Una (31.4 mm), Mandi and Brahmani (27.6 mm), Bilaspur (25.8 mm), Mashobra (23.5 mm), and Palampur and Shimla (21 mm each).
Thunderstorms and lightning were reported in Jubberhatti, Murari Devi, Jot, Sundernagar and Kangra.
The Shimla Meteorological Office has issued an ‘orange alert’ for heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places in Bilaspur, Chamba, Kangra, Mandi and Sirmaur districts for Monday, and in Kangra and Sirmaur districts for Tuesday.
Since the onset of the monsoon on June 30, 78 people have died in rain-related incidents, including 14 in landslides and one in flash floods, officials said.
The state has suffered losses amounting to Rs 955 crore, they said, adding that the weather department has predicted a wet spell in the state till August 20. PTI BPL PRK
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