• Source:JND
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Himachal Pradesh Weather: The intermittent rainfall across Himachal Pradesh on Thursday resulted in landslides across the state that led to the closure of 454 roads, including two national highways, while Rampur in Shimla witnessed a cloudburst that triggered flash floods in the area.

On Wednesday night, the cloudburst occurred at Darshal, which caused flash floods in the Teklech market. Fortunately, no casualties were reported due to the alertness of authorities as nearby houses were already evacuated due to the threat of flooding, officials noted.

In Shimla, a tree fell on the office building of the science and technology department at the US Club. A part of the roof was damaged along with a vehicle in the incident.

The inclement weather also caused electricity supply disruption in several areas of the city as power lines were downed and trees uprooted. To restore the power, restoration teams were deployed at the Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI), Broukhast, Strawberry Hills, Bemloi, and The Mall Road.

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A total of 454 roads were closed for vehicular movement, including the Old Hindustan-Tibet Road (NH 5) and the Aut-Sainj road (NH 305) cdue to landslide and floods. The Chandigarh-Manali National Highway (NH 21), which was closed on Tuesday, was reopened after nearly 40 hours on Thursday afternoon.

The roads that were closed, include 245 were in Mandi, while 118 were in the neighbouring Kullu district, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).

Meanwhile, the 14th Battalion of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) engaged in recovering the body of a devotee who slipped from a cliff near Ganesh Gufa on the Kinnaur Kailash route on Wednesday.

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The body of the devotee was recovered after a five-hour trek through treacherous terrain and in adverse weather conditions, located approximately 14,000 feet above the mean sea level. The body wa found by the rescue team nearly 350 feet down a steep, rocky slope and conducted a retrieval operation.

The weather department office has issued an orange alert of heavy to very heavy rains in several districts: Una, Kangra, Mandi, Solan and Sirmaur on Sunday, and in Una, Bilaspur, Kangra, Kullu and Mandi on Monday. The moderate to heavy rain will continue to lash parts of the state.

(With PTI Inputs)