KULLU: The weather department has issued an orange alert for heavy snow and rain in Chamba, Kangra, and Lahaul Spiti districts, even as majority of the roads in Lahaul Spiti and other higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh remained closed on Sunday. The meteorological centre, Shimla, also issued a yellow alert for the districts of Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Una, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Solan, and Sirmaur.
Parts of Kullu and Mandi districts will receive light to heavy snowfall and heavy rain and the rest of the districts will experience heavy rainfall. The centre also predicted thunderstorms and lightning in the mid and low hills of the state.
Most of the roads remained blocked in Lahaul Spiti district and parts of Kinnaur and Chamba districts, even as snow clearance work began. In Lahaul Spiti, electricity has not been restored in many parts of the district even after three days. In Kullu district, the highway to Manali was restored on Saturday afternoon.
The entrance to the Atal Tunnel, which was blocked after an avalanche, was cleared of snow on Sunday. The Shimla-Kinnaur highway remained blocked at many places, including Tinku Nullah, near Pooh. A district official said that the highway would be cleared of all landslide and glacier debris by Monday morning. A number of other roads, including Karcham to Chitkul, Wangtoo to Kafnoo, and Bhabhanagar to Nichar, also remained blocked on Sunday.
The Bharmour to Kharamukh road in Chamba district and most of the roads in the Pangi sub-division also remained blocked on Sunday.
Avalanche in Lahaul blocks Chenab flow, ITBP camp has narrow escape
A massive avalanche struck near Gue village in the Spiti Valley, stopping short of hitting the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) camp on Sunday. A district official said that the avalanche stopped around 200 metres from the camp.
Another avalanche struck near Jahlma village in Lahaul on Saturday, blocking the flow of the Chenab river.
Patient airlifted from remote village in Chamba
A patient who needed immediate medical care and treatment was airlifted from the snowbound Pangi area of Chamba district to Manali on Sunday. Sant Ram, 40, a resident of Dhanala village in the Pangi sub-division, suffered severe injuries in a fall. A request for a helicopter was made by Pangwal Ekta Manch, a Pangi-based organisation, and Sant Ram was airlifted from the helipad located near the Sach mountain pass, as all the roads were still blocked due to recent heavy snowfall in the valley. The villagers carried the patient in a makeshift stretcher from Dhanala village to the helipad. The patient has been admitted to a govt hospital in Manali.
Rocks fall on car, tourists injured
The occupants of a car had a lucky escape after rocks and debris from a landslide hit the moving vehicle on the Chandigarh-Manali highway at 4 Mile near Pandoh in Mandi district on Sunday afternoon. The four tourists, who were returning from Manali, suffered injuries and were taken out of the car by other motorists. The landslide caused a huge traffic jam on the highway. An official said that work to remove the debris from the highway began and the road would be cleared in a few hours. A landslide had struck at the same spot on Friday as well.
