Shimla, Aug. 28 -- Thousands of devotees undertaking the Manimahesh yatra, which was suspended on Monday due to inclement weather, are stranded in many places in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba due to rain-damaged roads, according to local MLAs. Bharmour MLA Dr Janak Raj, while speaking to media on Wednesday said thousands of pilgrims, who have travelled from across India, are currently stuck along the route to the sacred Manimahesh Lake. While authorities have so far maintained that all are safe, no direct contact has been possible with those on the ground due to the complete breakdown of communication. "For the last 40 hours, it has been raining continuously. Mobile networks are totally down; we cannot communicate with local residents or the administration. The Manimahesh Yatra is at its peak, and there are thousands of devotees here," Janak Raj said. He said many are stranded in Hadsar, the main starting point for the trek, as well as along routes from Chamba, Jammu's Doda-Kishtwar region, and the Pathankot corridor. "I have requested the government to deploy, apart from NDRF and SDRF teams, the Indian Army for night flying operations and helicopter evacuation." He also noted that the official registration system for the pilgrimage had not been fully implemented, making it difficult to verify exact numbers. Heavy rains, landslides, flash floods and cloudbursts on Tuesday wreaked havoc in parts of Himachal and the overflowing Beas River left a trail of destruction in Manali while mobile connectivity was snapped in the majority of Chamba district and Manali, reports reaching here said. A total of 584 roads were closed in ten out of 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh and reports from Chamba and Lahaul and Spiti districts have not been received, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said. Of the roads closed, 259 are in Mandi district and 167 in Kullu. Around 1,155 power supply transformers and 346 water supply schemes were disrupted, the SEOC said. The local meteorological office has issued a yellow alert for heavy rains in isolated areas in three to six districts of the state till Sunday. The state has since June 20 witnessed 85 landslides, 90 flashfloods and 42 cloudbursts. Heavy rain triggered landslides and flash floods, damaging National Highway 21 between Mandi and Kullu at Pandoh. The alternative Mandi-Kullu link via Kataula is also blocked, police said. The Beas river has damaged several stretches of the highway and restoration could take two more days. Kullu district was cut off with the Chandigarh-Manali national highway damaged and closed for traffic from Pandoh to Aut due to landslides in Mandi district. However, it was reopened in the evening and the process of sending stranded vehicles on this stretch of the highway towards their safe destinations was started. The cumulative toll since June 20 has climbed to 310 deaths of which 158 were rain-related fatalities including landslides, flash floods, and house collapses and 152 people died in road accidents. With the Chandigarh-Manali highway blocked, hundreds of cargo vehicles are stranded in Manali. Local residents are arranging food for drivers by setting up community kitchens (langars)....