Manali: Heavy rainfall in the early hours of Thursday caused a dangerous flash flood in the Anjani Mahadev rivulet and Aakhri Nullah in the higher reaches of Manali late Wednesday night. Levies eroded by the intense rains further observed a couple of houses being washed away downstream, and a bailey bridge at Palchan was also severely washed away. This has led to the closure of National Highway 3, which connects Himachal Pradesh with lavish, which in turn cuts off the region from Ladakh. Fortunately, there are no reported deaths, although a section of a local powerhouse was affected.
People in the affected areas were lucky to escape. Families residing in the Palchan, Ruad, and Kulang sectors managed to escape from their homes by a whisker due to early signals from their counterparts living by the Aakhri Nullah and Anjani Mahadev rivulet. These residents acted swiftly, actually by using their cellphones to warn their neighbors, that there wasn’t any loss of life. Nevertheless, two houses were fully washed, and one was comparatively damaged. It disrupted power, clean water, and health services also destroyed many farmlands with debris from the flood.
Disruptions by Flash Floods
As a result of the flood, the Manali Leh highway was blocked owing to the formation of scrapes at Snow Gallery near Palchan Bridge as well as the Solang, a tourist delight. Those crossing over from Lahaul-Spiti towards Manali through the north end of the Atal Tunnel have been re-routed towards Rohtang. The Lahaul and Spiti police also came up with a notice advising people to travel only when it is extremely necessary.
The state emergency operation center informed us that as many as fifteen roads, twelve in Mandi, two in Kinnaur, and one in Kangra district, were closed to traffic. Also, 62 transformers in the state were affected by the rain. According to the resources from the Indian Meteorological Department, light rain can be expected in Kullu, Mandi, Kangra, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, and Sirmaur. The rise in precipitation led to a lowering of temperatures; Kumkumseri in Lahaul and Spiti districts recorded the lowest at 12.2 degrees Celsius.
Check here for the latest updates in Hindi!