Heavy rains expected in Himachal

Shimla Aug 14 (IANS) Some parts of Himachal Pradesh may experience heavy rainfall till Tuesday a weather official said on Monday.

"There are chances of heavy rainfall in Solan Shimla Sirmaur and Bilaspur districts " Manmohan Singh the meteorological office director told IANS.

Most of the prominent tourist towns like Shimla Narkanda Kufri Chail Kasauli Chamba Dharamsala Palampur and Manali have been witnessing good spells of rain for the past one week.

Shimla which saw an overnight rain recorded a low of 15.6 degrees Celsius on Monday.

Dharamsala saw a minimum of 17.6 degrees while it was 13.6 degrees in Manali.

A massive landslide in Mandi district triggered late on Saturday night by heavy rains swallowed a 150m stretch of road burying homes two buses and vehicles leaving 46 dead and five injured.

Fearing more landslides the government has closed the stretch between Mandi and Aut on the Chandigarh-Manali highway.

The authorities have started a route via Kalota to reach Kullu and Manali a notification said.

The Jogindernagar-Mandi section of the Pathankot-Mandi highway has also been temporarily shut.

--IANS
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