Dharamshala, July 26 -- With the rainfall activity expected to intensify in parts of Himachal Pradesh in coming days, the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) Shimla office has sounded a yellow alert in several districts from July 26. A yellow alert of heavy rainfall has been sounded in Mandi and Shimla districts on July 26, followed by a yellow alert in Una, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Kangra, Kullu and Mandi districts on July 27. The weather office has also sounded a yellow alert of heavy rainfall on July 28 in Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur districts. Five districts of the state will be under a yellow alert on July 29. According to MeT department officials, light to moderate rainfall is very likely at many places on July 26, 30 and 31 and at most places on July 27, 28 and 29. Moreover, one or two spells of heavy rainfall is also expected from July 26 to 31 in different parts of the state. Meanwhile, as many as 221 roads remained closed in Himachal Pradesh on Friday, besides National Highway (NH-70) Mandi-Kotli stretch. In Mandi district alone, 144 roads remained blocked, followed by 48 roads blocked in Kullu district. Himachal revenue and horticulture minister Jagat Singh Negi on Friday said that officials from the horticulture, agriculture, and revenue departments will jointly assess the damage caused to agricultural and horticultural crops in the affected areas. Negi visited the disaster-affected areas in the Seraj assembly constituency in Mandi and took stock of the damage. The minister said that the state government has increased the compensation for damage to cultivable and horticultural land under the 2023 relief package. In addition, the compensation amount for loss of livestock has also been increased. "In this hour of disaster, the state government stands firmly with the affected people. Administrative and departmental officers are working day and night to restore normalcy," he said. Meanwhile, a five-member multi-sectoral central team, which was on a visit to Himachal to study the various factors responsible for the increasing frequency of natural disasters in the state on Friday visited the disaster affected sites of Thunag sub-division of Mandi district. During this, the central team also held discussions with revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi. The central team conducted a thorough inspection of the affected areas in Pandav Shila, Lambathach, Deji village of Thunag and Bagsyad areas of Seraj assembly constituency which were affected by the recent heavy rainfall and landslides due to cloudburst. At Lambathach, the central team also discussed the damage caused by the natural disaster with Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi. Mandi Deputy Commissioner, Apoorv Devgan, said that children who lost their loved ones during natural disasters are being included in the welfare schemes of the state government. Meanwhile, during his visit to the disaster-affected areas, Negi was shown black flags by BJP workers in Seraj, who also raised slogans against him. Protesters stopped the minister's cavalcade in Thunag and expressed their anger. The minister has recently been engaged in a war of words with the leader of opposition Jai Ram Thakur, who represents the Seraj assembly constituency in the state assembly....