Dharamshala/Shimla, July 29 -- Torrential rains wreaked havoc across Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday, with flash-floods, landslides and road blocks disrupting normal life. Heavy overnight rainfall triggered widespread destruction in and around Chamba town, leaving several residential areas inundated with mud and debris, damaging houses, shops and vehicles, and disrupting normal life. On the other hand, around 179 roads remained blocked on Tuesday. Residents of Sultanpur ward and the adjoining gram panchayats of Sarol, Parel and Tadoli woke up to scenes of devastation on Tuesday morning with flash runoff carrying boulders and debris sweeping through localities. The incident damaged around 26 houses and one shop, said officials. Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu also took stock of the situation and directed the district administration to provide immediate assistance to the affected families. Among the 179 roads blocked in the state, 58 were in Mandi district alone, followed by 42 in Kullu and 30 in Chamba district. A landslide triggered blockage on the busy Cart Road brought vehicular movement to a standstill for nearly an hour before authorities cleared the debris and restored traffic. An uprooted tree had blocked the Sanjauli-Chamyana Hospital road near Bhattakufer, Shimla while another uprooted tree block Bolieauganj-Chakkar road, Shimla. Five devotees from Hyderabad, who were stranded on the Manimahesh Yatra route in Chamba district, were rescued safely, officials said on Tuesday. The devotees were stranded between Dunali and Tosh Ka Goth in the Bharmour area after adverse weather conditions blocked the route. On receiving information at around 8 pm, the Bharmour administration immediately dispatched a rescue team, which safely evacuated the devotees on Monday night at around 11.30pm. The India Meteorological Department (IMD), Shimla, on Tuesday said that isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely over plains and adjoining mid hills areas in the state till July 30. The rainfall activity is expected to continue till August 3, with heavy showers also expected in parts of the state during this period. For July 29, the weather office has sounded an orange alert of heavy to very heavy rainfall in Sirmaur district, while a yellow alert of heavy rainfall has been sounded in Bilaspur, Kangra and Mandi districts. Moreover, an orange alert of heavy to very heavy rainfall has been issued again on July 30 in Bilaspur, Chamba, Kangra and Sirmaur districts. As the torrential rain leads to widespread destruction across the state, water supply in the state capital is likely to remain disrupted for the next few days. Due to transformer failure at stage-2 of Satluj Water Supply Project and heavy silt and flooding at the other water sources, the water supply will be on alternate days till the situation normalises, a statement issued by the Shimla Jal Prabandhan Nigam Limited (SJPNL) on Tuesday said....