Himachal Roads Damaged, Homes Evacuated Amid Heavy Rains and Snowfall

"Rain has been occurring across the entire district for the past 24 hours, and there is also heavy snowfall in the higher altitude areas. Due to this, our link roads have been severely affected. The national highway, NH 03, has also been damaged at one location. In the foggy area at the South Portal, more than 2 feet of snowfall has been reported. We appeal that people should not undertake unnecessary travel because in conditions of heavy rain and snowfall, the risk of vehicle accidents increases," he said.

Due to continuous heavy rains in Kullu district for the last 4 days, many houses in Inner Akhara Bazar are in danger of being damaged due to landslides from the Sultanpur Math area in Inner Akhara Bazar. In such a situation, the district administration has evacuated half a dozen houses and sent them to safe places in the Gurdwara and Mandir Sarai Bhavan. The inner arena market has long been prone to landslides.

Local renter Gunjan Thakur said that after Thursday afternoon in Inner Akhara Bazar, debris from the landslide is coming to the residential areas, which is likely to cause damage. He said that the administration had inspected the officials yesterday, and after that, the people living in 6 houses were instructed to move to a safe place.

ADC Kumar said that due to heavy rains in Kullu district, some houses have been threatened due to landslides in Inner Akhara Bazar. He said that after inspecting the spot, 6 houses have been evacuated for safety reasons. He said that landslides are happening intermittently from the hill, due to which there is a possibility of damage. A format has been prepared under the Mitigation Fund in which a security wall will be installed to secure the area after awarding the tender process in the coming time.

Mahiman Chandra Sharma, a local resident, said that the new houses of the municipal council living in low bar number four and bar number six are threatened by landslides. He said that the drainage of sewage water in the Sultanpur wat area is not done in a proper way, due to which the water leakage from the Sultanpur wat area to Inner Akhara Bazar has been causing landslides for the past several years. Six houses in the bazaar have been vacated due to landslides since 2 days.

Further, he said that no concrete steps have been taken by the administration to secure the area in the last 10 months, due to which there may be more damage in the coming rains. He said that the administration lives their security put up walls so that people's houses and lands are not damaged, and there is no loss of life and property.

Notably, in the month of September last year, four houses were damaged due to a heavy landslide in Inner Akhara Bazar, while 10 people died, after which the administration declared a red zone in Inner Akhara Bazar, where people's houses were declared unsafe to live in. Currently, half a dozen houses have been evacuated by the administration in view of the possible danger of landslides. He said that the weather department has issued an orange alert for today and a yellow alert for tomorrow, followed by a green alert for two days and again a yellow alert on March 23, in which people have been urged not to move unnecessarily and stay away from Bhuj Kalam prone areas.

Along with this, Manali and nearby areas have been experiencing continuous rain and snowfall for the past three days. But now the snowfall has knocked out the mall road in the lower areas

The weather in Manali and its surrounding areas has been continuously bad for the past few days, after which the fresh snowfall has enhanced the beauty of the plains. The mountains, trees and roads are covered with a white sheet of snow, giving a breathtaking view from all sides.

As soon as it started snowing, tourists came out of the hotel and started enjoying the snowfall. Tourists were seen playing in the snow, taking photos and videos. From children to the elderly, everyone seemed to enjoy this season.

- ANI