Shimla: A cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district early Saturday buried several vehicles under debris and damaged farmlands, though no casualties were reported, officials said.
The incident occurred in Gutrahan village of the Namhol area, falling under the Naina Devi assembly constituency. Gushing waters mixed with debris swept across agricultural fields, leaving destruction in their wake, said local resident Kashmir Singh.
Several vehicles were trapped under the debris. Meanwhile, dense fog engulfed the state capital Shimla on Saturday morning, reducing visibility to just a few metres and causing inconvenience to school commuters.
The local Met office has issued a yellow warning for heavy rainfall in isolated areas of the state for Saturday and Sunday.
On Friday evening, 503 roads, including the Attari–Leh road (NH-3), Aut–Sainj road (NH-305) and Amritsar–Bhota road (NH-503A), were closed to traffic. Additionally, 953 power transformers and 336 water supply schemes remain disrupted due to floods and landslides, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).
Since the onset of the monsoon on June 20 till September 12, 386 people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents and road accidents across the state. Of these, 218 deaths were attributed to rain-related incidents and 168 to road accidents.
So far, the state has incurred damages worth ₹4,465 crore, officials added. Himachal Pradesh recorded an average rainfall of 967.2 mm between June 1 and September 12, compared to the normal 678.4 mm — an excess of 43 per cent, as per meteorological data.
