Click to play videoShimla: Heavy rain has crippled life in Himachal Pradesh including capital Shimla. The Shimla-Kalka rail link is burried under debris. There’s also a long stretch of the Shimla-Kalka highway that has been blocked because of landslides.
The worst affected places are Shimla, Kalka, Kasauli, Solan, Mandi and Jawalamukhi. And as rain poured incessantly and rivers swelled upstream, the Naptha Jhakri hydel power plant in northern Himachal Pradesh had to be shut down.
The shutdown of the 1500 mega-watt plant has triggered a power-crisis in several northern states including Delhi. Sutluj, the main river feeding the project, has been in full spate due to heavy showers over the past few days. Its discharge has reached 1200 Cusecs, which is well above the danger level.
The Provincial Power Minister, Vidya Stokes said the decision to shutdown the project, resulting in losses about $2.2 million everyday, was unavoidable.
"It is a big flood like situation after heavy rains, sudden heavy rains. So naturally the water comes and lot of soil from the surrounding area comes. That's why the flood situation comes, and silt level is too high for machinery to take it, it's dangerous. So they have to shutdown the whole mechanism," said Stokes.
Large areas in the Sutluj's catchment are faced with gushing, rising waters and possible threats of flooding. The latest bout of showers has caught the administration unawares. Many residents complained of lack of warning by authorities.
"There is no warning from the authorities about the rising water levels so we can take precautions for our safety," said a resident of Rampur., Rachit Singh.
At least 30 people have died in flood-related accidents in Himachal Pradesh this year. The damage to public and private property has run into millions of rupees.
Every year, monsoon rains leave a trail of death and destruction across South Asia, but much of the economy of a largely agricultural region depends on this downpour.
The latest bout of monsoon flooding, which began about three weeks ago, has affected about 30 million people across the country, Bihar being the worst hit, with 10 million people affected in the worst floods in decades.
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