Flood alert in Himachal

SHIMLA: Flood alert has been sounded in many areas of Himachal Pradesh as Beas and other rivers went into spate, swamping vast tracts of land in Kullu, Mandi, Kinnaur and Shimla districts after over 36 hours of incessant rain.
All major power projects have opened their floodgates and sounded a general alert, advising people living downstream of the dams to move to safer places.
The swirling waters of Parvati washed away a school building, a bridge and a building under construction at Ghushani in Kullu district, senior superintendent of police A P Singh said on Wednesday.
Three persons, including a watchman of the school are missing.
Singh said there were no casualties so far, as measures had been taken to evacuate people to safer places.
The Beas waters had inundated a 5-km stretch of the Chandigarh-Manali highway near Hanogi and also entered houses and bazaars in Sainj area in Kullu district.
A bus was marooned in 6-7 ft water near Hanogi, but all its passengers had reached safer ground, SSP said. Traffic on the Mandi-Kullu stretch of National Highway 21 was suspended and hundreds of vehicles were stranded.
Kullu and Mandi districts were under increased risk due to the swollen Beas waters, SSP said, but denied reports that some villages in the districts had been washed away.
Baspa river in Kinnaur district swept away an Ayurvedic dispensary at Kilba and damaged some foot-bridges endangering houses there, officials added.
The Sangla valley was cut off from Karchham as a vital bridge at Kilba had been destroyed and the Chitkul-Kilba road was blocked due to a landslide.
Flash floods in the Andhra and Pabbar rivers in Rohroo area of Shimla district had damaged an LPG godown, a resthouse and some homes. The Pabbar river changed course and eroded its banks at some places.
A high-level meeting was being chaired by chief secretary S S Parmar to take stock of the situation and review relief and restoration work in Kinnaur district, which faced the wrath of the Sutlej last week.
Vehicular traffic remained suspended on India-Tibet highway beyond Wangtoo for the tenth consecutive day and the Shimla-Kubbal-Rohroo road was also blocked due to a landslide near Nihri and Chhol Nallah.