Himachal: Cloudburst in Kullu damages houses, roads

Kullu (Himachal Pradesh) [India], July 25 (ANI): Several houses were damaged due to a cloudburst in Kullu’s Panchnala in the early hours of Tuesday, an official statement said. 
In this regard, Deputy Commissioner Kullu, Ashutosh Garg said that a total of five houses were completely damaged due to the occurrence of cloudbursts. 
"Five houses have been completely damaged and 15 houses have been partially damaged due to cloudburst. Apart from this, the Bhuntar-Gadsa Maniyar road has also been damaged. Two bridges were also washed away due to the cloudburst," he said. 
He further informed that district administration officials have left for the spot of the incident to assess the damage.   
"Patwari has reached the spot. Also, Naib Tehsildar Bhuntar has left for the spot," he said. 
Earlier today panic gripped the village of Malana on Tuesday when water from the 86-megawatt Malana Hydro Power Project dam in the Kullu district started overflowing due to the malfunctioning of its gates. 
According to Deputy Commissioner Kullu Ashutosh Garg, in view of the accumulation of water and silt in the Malana dam, an alert was sounded as soon as the administration received information about the flooding of the water level in River Parvati due to the gate block of Malana Hydro Power Stage-two Dam.
Garg further said that the dam management has been instructed to take all necessary precautions to prevent further escalation of the crisis. 
He added that the water level in the dam was below the danger limit at 30 cusecs, so there was no cause for alarm.
"The amount of water in the dam is 30 cusecs, so there is nothing to panic about. In view of the possibility of a dam burst, the people of the downstream area have been evacuated," he said.
Meanwhile the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday issued an orange alert for Himachal Pradesh and predicted heavy rainfall in the state for three days from July 26 to 28. (ANI)