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Heavy rain paralysis Himachal

SHIMLA: Life in Himachal Pradesh went out of gear after a heavy downpour in the wee hours of Monday. There were massive cloudbursts at various places and water came gushing down flooding the mountainous terrain and causing havoc at many places. The incessant rain caused heavy damage to life and property. The death toll has gone up to 21 since Sunday, although official confirmation is yet to come.

At least four persons, all of them migrant labourers, were buried alive following heavy landslides on National Highway-21 near Matiyana in upper Shimla district in the forenoon on Monday. Six persons were killed in Solan and two in Hamirpur due to sudden rupture of debris on them in the morning. Five persons were killed in areas under two panchayats in Chachiot constituency of BJP State unit president Jai Ram Thakur. He said the worst affected by the heavy rainfall in Mandi were poor construction workers living in temporary makeshift structures.

Huge losses have been reported to the standing kharif crop and apple and other fruits in the State.

The Shimla-Kalka highway was blocked for many hours on Monday along with the Manali-Chandigarh highway following huge mudslides at many places.

The famous heritage toy train track between Kalka and Shimla was also blocked after Koti railway station near Solan got washed away in heavy rain at night. It would take at least two weeks to clear the mud from the tracks, said the railway authorities.

The 1,500-MW Nathpa Jhakri and the 300-MW Baspa power projects have been shut due to intense silt in the Sutlej river. This might result in a daily loss of Rs.10 crore worth of electricity according to one estimate.

There was no supply of milk, vegetables and newspapers to Shimla on Monday due to landslides on the Kalka-Shimla highway. The water supply, too, was badly disrupted.

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Heavy rain paralysis Himachal

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