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An incident of cloudburst near the tourist hub of Manali in Himachal Pradesh has caused the arterial Manali-Leh Highway to close, local residents have told Down To Earth (DTE).
The cloudburst happened 10 kilometres from Manali on the night of July 24. It caused damage in the Dhundi and Palchan areas.
Heavy rains caused massive flooding in the Anjani Mahadev nullah, due to which the Manali-Leh Highway has been completely closed.
The incident also caused damages to the 9 megawatt (MW) power project in Dhundi, three buildings as well as livestock shelters.
“Heavy rains and the cloudburst have wrought havoc in the area. The water brought rocks with it, which caused damages to the Manali-Leh Highway, the power project, people’s homes as well bridges,” local hotel owner Kapil Thakur told DTE.
He added that the cloudburst had caused difficulties for tourists in the region.
The incident has also forced people coming from Lahaul and Ladakh to take an alternative route from the Rohtang Pass, a journey that takes four additional hours to complete.
The district administration has been working through the night, attempting to rescue stranded tourists from the Solang nullah area.
The southwest monsoon had wrought havoc in Himachal Pradesh last year, causing damages to the tune of Rs 12,000 crore.
Himachal has recorded a mere 183 millimetres of rainfall in the period from June 1-July 25, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Usually, this figure is 302 mm. The state has thus received a deficit rainfall of -39 per cent. The Himalayan state has also received rainfall that is 32 per cent less than average for the month of July.
Last year, Kullu district had recorded more than 430 mm rainfall, the highest in the month of July since 1980. Several tourists had been left stranded as a result in the area.
The IMD has issued a yellow alert regarding heavy rains in the state from July 27 to July 30.