Himachal Pradesh Weather Today: Orange Alert From Tomorrow; 10 Stuck in Boat in Mandi's Koldam

Incessant rains leading to landslides and flood-like situation continued to affect daily life in Himachal Pradesh, even as more heavy showers are predicted from Monday.

The Met office in Shimla issued a ‘yellow alert’ for heavy rain today and an ‘orange alert’ for heavy to very heavy rain from August 22 to 24.

At least 330 people have lost their lives due to rains and floods in this year’s monsoon, as per home ministry data. Last week, the state was hit by at least 25 landslides and one cloudburst.

Here are the latest updates from the state 

• The Indian Meteorological Department has said that heavy to very heavy rain, thunderstorm accompanied by lightning or very intense to extremely intense spell of rain is very likely to occur at isolated places in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri, Nainital, Champawat and Bageshwar districts in the next 24 hours.
• On Sunday, isolated areas of the hill state saw light rain. Another wet spell is likely on August 26.
• The Met office has also warned of of moderate risk of flash floods in catchment areas of Chamba and Mandi districts in this week.
• “Heavy rain can result in landslides, flash floods and increased water levels in rivers and drains, besides causing damage to standing crops, fruit plants and young seedlings,” the weather office said.
• In another development, 10 people including 5 forest officials are trapped at the Kol Dam Hydel Project in the Mandi district. Rescue operations are underway and is being carried out with the help of a steamer, even as rainfall continues.
• “The rescue operation has been started by the NDRF in coordination with the local administration and residents,” Mandi Deputy Commissioner Arindam Chaudhary said.
• Amid the ongoing situation, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Sunday sought a special relief package from the Centre.
• In a meeting with BJP president J P Nadda and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, Sukhu highlighted that the current relief of the Centre’s financial provisions was inadequate to compensate the losses caused by heavy rains in the state.
• The chief minister also appealed for financial aid akin to that provided during the Kedarnath and Bhuj tragedies to aid the recovery efforts in the state.
• Speaking on the situation, Nadda said that all efforts should be on relief, restoration and rehabilitation and that the Congress government should “tell us the problem and place the demand, it would be taken care of”.
• This comes as the union government on Sunday  approved the release of Rs 200 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund to help restore the damage done by rainfall in the state.
• Till now, twenty teams of the National Disaster Response Force, nine columns of the Indian Army and three helicopters of the Indian Air Force were deployed in Himachal Pradesh for rescue and relief.