Parts of Himachal Pradesh witnessed light to moderate rainfall on Monday, while the state capital was battered by sharp showers in the evening. The Meteorological Department here has issued a yellow alert for heavy rain in the state on Thursday and Friday, which may lead to landslides, flash floods, mudslides, and increased flow of water in the rivers and drains.
Cautioning farmers of damage to standing crops, fruit plants and young seedlings, the MeT advised them to make adequate arrangements to avoid the direct impact of rain, thunder and lightning on the young plants and reschedule the spraying of insecticides.
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On Monday, Sri Nainadevi was the wettest in the state with 40 mm of rainfall, followed by 34 mm at Jubbarhatti, 30 mm each at Una and Rampur Rajgarh, 12 mm at Mashobra, 11 mm at Narkanda, 10 mm at Jhandutta and 8 mm at Shimla, weather data till 5 pm showed.
This July, Himachal Pradesh received 437.5 mm of rainfall, against the normal of 255.9 mm -- an excess of 71 per cent, the MeT said. All the districts in the state received excess rains ranging between 11 per cent in Kangra and 199 per cent in Kinnaur, it added.
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Over 350 roads in the state are still closed for vehicular traffic due to landslides and damage owing to inordinate rains, according to the state emergency operations centre. Since the onset of the monsoon on July 24, the hill state has so far suffered a loss to the tune of Rs 5,691 crore, the centre said.
As many as 190 persons have died so far due to rain-related incidents and road accidents in the ongoing monsoon season while 34 are missing, the data showed. Meanwhile, the District Relief and Rehabilitation Committees set up under the chairmanship of state ministers and Chief Parliamentary Secretaries to oversee and expedite the relief and rehabilitation works would begin the review tour from Wednesday, a spokesperson of the state government said here on Monday.
