Heavy rainfall in Himachal, water level rises in Beas River, landslide blocks Kullu-Manali road

Mandi: Heavy rainfall continued to batter Himachal Pradesh on Sunday, leading to a rise in the water level of the Beas River, flash floods and landslides across the state.

The Kullu Police informed that traffic movement from Kullu and Manali has been restricted due to falling stones at many places on the Kullu-Manali road and due to the increasing water level in the Beas River.

"Due to heavy rains, the movement of vehicles from Kullu and Manali towards Atal Tunnel and Rohtang has been completely stopped due to falling of stones at many places on the Kullu-Manali road and due to the increase in water level in Beas river near Ramshila", Kullu Police said.

In another incident, six people were evacuated safely by a team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) on Sunday who were trapped in their homes due to the rise in the water in the lower market of Pandoh in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh.

"Today, on Sunday at around 07:15 in the morning, according to the information received from the District Disaster Management Authority, Mandi, six people were trapped in their homes due to the rise in the water level of Vyas River in the lower market of Pandoh. Safely evacuated by the SDRF Mandi team," HP SDRF tweeted.

HP Traffic, Tourist and Railways police on Sunday informed that due to ongoing heavy rains and waterlogging, the train movement on the Shimla-Kalka heritage rail track is cancelled.
"Train movement on the Shimla-Kalka heritage rail track is cancelled for today due to ongoing heavy rains and subsequent slides and waterlogging," HP Traffic, Tourist and Railways Police tweeted.
The railway track has also been closed between Koti and Sanwara railway stations at Tunnel No. 10 due to heavy rainfall on the Kalka-Shimla railway route in Himachal Pradesh.

Earlier in the day, three persons of a family were killed while two others were injured after their house collapsed due to heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla on Sunday, the police said.
Officials said that the incident took place in Kotgarh village of Shimla on Sunday morning.

The victims were taken out of the debris after a rescue operation and rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared them brought dead.
"The deceased have been identified as Anil, Kiran, and Swapnil, and their bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination. We are further looking into the incident," Shimla Superintendent of Police, Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi said.