Red alert issued for extremely heavy rains in 4-6 Himachal districts till Tuesday

Shimla | The meteorological centre has issued a red alert for very heavy to extremely heavy rains in four to six districts of Himachal Pradesh from Sunday to Tuesday and cautioned of landslides, flash floods, land subsidence, water-logging and swelling of water bodies.

The Met office has forecast very heavy to extremely heavy rains accompanied by thunderstorm at isolated places in Una, Bilaspur, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur on Sunday.

Heavy to extremely heavy rains are likely in isolated places in Una, Bilapsur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi and Sirmaur on Monday and Chamba, Kangra, Kullu and Mandi on Tuesday, it has predicted.

Himachal Pradesh has received 72 per cent excess rains in August 2025, data showed.

The state received 440.8 mm rainfall against the season's average of 256.8 mm. The excess was more than 100 per cent in five districts, namely Kullu (162 per cent), Shimla (126 per cent), Una (121 per cent), Solan (118 per cent) and Chamba (104 per cent).

Landslides and flash floods have wreaked havoc in many parts of the state, leading to the closure of 822 roads on Sunday morning. This included three national highways -- the Old Hindustan Tibet Road, Mandi-Dharampur Road and the Aut-Sainj Road.

The Manali-Naggar-Kullu road was obstructed following flash floods on Naitar and Bhagh streams, officials said, adding that restoration works are underway.

A few vehicles were buried under debris in different parts of Shimla city while a car was damaged when an electricity pole fell on it. The power supply was snapped in the adjoining areas.

In the 12 hours between 6 pm on Saturday and 6 am on Sunday, Kangra received 45 mm rainfall, Una 37.2 mm, Palampur 32 mm, Kufri 35 mm, Shimla 18.2 mm, Manali 18 mm, Kufri 17.5 mm, Jubbarhatti 16.2 mm and Mandi 15.8 mm.

From the onset of monsoon in the state on June 20 to August 30, Himachal Pradesh has witnessed 91 flash floods, 45 cloudbursts and 93 major landslides.

As many as 1,236 power transformers and 424 water supply schemes have been disrupted, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).

The state has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 3,042 crore this monsoon, and 320 people have died in rain-related incidents and road accidents, SEOC data showed. As many as 4,041 houses have been fully or partially damaged.