Himachal IMD issues orange alert amid heavy monsoon rains

Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) [India], July 31 (ANI): Amid continuous monsoon rainfall across Himachal Pradesh, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an Orange Alert for the region until July 31.
In Mandi district, the Beas River is currently flowing at normal levels, and no incidents of flash floods or other rain-related disasters have been reported so far. Cloud cover persists across the district, while scattered rainfall was recorded in different parts of Mandi on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) released an additional 12,000 cusecs of water from the Pandoh Dam due to increased inflows into the reservoir, taking the total discharge into the Beas River to approximately 36,000 cusecs.
Authorities have advised residents, tourists and workers to stay away from the riverbanks, as water levels may rise further if inflows continue to increase. Sirens will be sounded before any additional release of water from the dam.
Heavy monsoon rainfall has triggered floods and landslides across several states, including Assam, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Kerala.
Earlier, on Wednesday, restoration of essential services gathered momentum across the state, with the number of blocked roads declining to 152 as authorities continued large-scale clearance operations following heavy monsoon rains.
According to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), the number of blocked roads across the state fell to 152 by 6 p.m. on July 29 from 192 reported a day earlier. No national highway is currently blocked.
Mandi district remains the worst affected with 58 blocked roads, followed by Kullu (31), Chamba (30), Sirmaur (14) and Shimla (14).
Power supply also improved significantly during the day, with the number of disrupted Distribution Transformer Regions (DTRs) reducing to 72 from 189 reported earlier. Chamba accounts for 59 affected DTRs, followed by Mandi (8) and Sirmaur (5).
The drinking water supply situation also showed improvement, with disrupted water supply schemes declining to 68 from 80. Hamirpur has the highest number of affected schemes (23), followed by Bilaspur (18), Mandi (16) and Chamba (15). (ANI)