Heavy rains continue in Himachal, rivers in spate
Shimla, Sep 23 : The southwest monsoon remained aggressive on Sunday in Himachal Pradesh with most of the areas experiencing heavy to extremely heavy rains, causing landslides in some areas and blocking the highways. All the major rivers and their tributaries were in spate, officials said.
The water level in the Beas river also rose abnormally touching the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway 21 near the Hanogi temple in Mandi district.
While picturesque tourist town Manali recorded the highest rainfall in the state at 127 mm, it was 125 mm in Dharamsala, 124 mm in Una and 90 mm in Dalhousie.
State capital Shimla saw 47 mm rain.
Higher reaches of Kullu, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts saw snowfall.
The highway that connects Manali with Leh in Jammu and Kashmir has been closed for traffic owing to heavy snow, officials said.
"The traffic between Manali and Leh has been closed since Saturday," an official of the 38 Task Force of the General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF) told IANS.
The Manali-Leh highway is crucial to the movement of the armed forces and their supplies and wares to forward areas in Ladakh.
An official of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation said it would take a week to restart bus services between Manali via Keylong and Leh.
Meanwhile, the 13,050 feet high Rohtang Pass, the main tourist attraction and located 52 km from here, was closed.
An official of the local Met office said there are chances of heavy rainfall at some places in the state till Monday and thereafter the intensity of rains will start receding.
Incessant rains have also caused massive landslides on national highways in Shimla, Kinnaur, Mandi and Kullu districts, hampering vehicular traffic.
The water level in the major rivers of the state - the Satluj, Beas and Yamuna - which enter the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana has also increased, a government official said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Train to Kashmir: 22-bogie train's trial run successful on Katra-Srinagar line
Jammu: A 22-bogie train chugged between Katra and Srinagar railway stations on Sunday, officials said, marking the first successful trial run on the newly completed line to connect Kashmir with the rest of the country via rail.
The train, comprising 18 AC coaches, two luggage carriers and two engines, left the Katra railway station at around 8 am, successfully reaching its destination within four hours under the watchful eyes of the railway authorities, the officials said.
This was the first trial run between Katra and Srinagar, and came within six days after the Commissioner of Railway Safety (Northern Circle) Dinesh Chand Deshwal authorised the opening of the newly constructed Broad Gauge line.
He had given the authorisation for the start of public carriage of goods and passenger traffic in a seven-page letter to the ministry and railway authorities, based on his detailed inspection of the track on January 7 and 8.
The CRS referred to his inspection of the newly constructed BG line between the Katra and Reasi section by a motor trolley and on foot, followed by a speed trial on the entire section from Katra to Banihal.
He had then authorised regular opening of the section for passengers and freight traffic at a maximum permissible speed of 85 Kmph on the main line and 15 Kmph on turnout.
The work on the dream project to link Kashmir by train was started in 1997 and it missed several deadlines given geological, topographical and meteorological challenges.
Out of the total 272 km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, 209 km was commissioned in phases with the first phase of the 118 km Qazigund-Baramulla section commissioned in October 2009, followed by 18 km Banihal-Qazigund in June 2013, 25 km Udhampur-Katra in July 2014 and 48.1 km long Banihal-Sangaldan stretch in February, last year.
The work on the 46-km Sangaldan-Reasi section was also completed in June last year, leaving a total of 17 km stretch between Reasi and Katra. And this section was finally completed in December 2024 as announced by the Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
On January 4, a successful trial run of an electric train was successfully conducted on the Katra-Banihal section. The railways has conducted six trials over the past month on various segments of the track, including the two major milestones of the Anji Khad and Chenab bridges.
Katra-Srinagar Rail Link: First 18-Coach Train Completes Trial Run Successfully pic.twitter.com/p68axcUClX
— Daily Excelsior (@DailyExcelsior1) January 19, 2025
