Himachal Pradesh: Cloudburst kills 1, injures 3 in Kullu

In Himachal Pradesh, one person died, while three others were injured in a cloudburst that struck Kias and Nyoli villages near Kullu on Monday morning.

According to the Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), the deceased has been identified as Badal Sharma, a resident of Chansari village.

Those injured have been identified as Khem Chand, Suresh Sharma and Kapil. They have been admitted to a nearby hospital in Kullu.

The cloudburst struck around 3:35 am on Monday when the entire village was asleep, a district administration official said.

As many as nine vehicles were damaged in the flash floods triggered by the cloud burst, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP-headquarter) Rajesh Thakur said.

No respite from rain in Himachal

Heavy rainfall will continue to lash most parts of Himachal Pradesh, with the weather office issuing an orange alert for four districts in the state on Monday.

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Himachal Pradesh has received 284.1 mm of rainfall so far in July, against the normal rainfall of 110.4 mm, an excess of 157 per cent.

More than 100 people have lost their lives since the onset of the monsoon in the state on June 26. As per the Himachal Pradesh Emergency Response Centre, so far, 667 houses have been damaged completely and 1,264 suffered partial damage.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, on Saturday (July 15), said Himachal Pradesh suffered losses of about Rs 8,000 crore as heavy rainfall wreaked havoc, triggering landslides and flash floods and damaging roads and other infrastructure.

According to the SDMA, 53 landslides and 41 flash floods have been reported since June 24 in Himachal Pradesh. The total losses in the state due to monsoon rains have reached over 4,414 crore.

With inputs from agencies