Krishna Nagar area in Shimla city declared containment zone

Shimla: The landslide-hit Krishna Nagar area of Shimla city, where a slaughterhouse was buried under debris leaving several animals dead, has been declared as a containment zone in view of the risk of spread of disease.

Two persons were killed in the landslide on August 15 in which about eight houses, including some makeshift ones, were razed to the ground beside the slaughterhouse.

About 500 square metres area in the vicinity of the slaughterhouse has been declared a containment zone, Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, Aditya Negi told PTI.

Restrictions have been imposed on the movement in the area and the residents living near the slaughterhouse and downstream have been asked to avoid using water from the sources coming from the drain near the slaughterhouse, officials said.

Teams of officials from the Animal Husbandry Department and Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) had visited the site and chemicals, disinfectants and bleaching powder had been sprayed to prevent the spread of any disease as the animals are decaying, Mayor Surinder Chauhan said.

“We are waiting for the soil (mud) to get dry to remove the debris as the use of heavy machinery for removing moisture-laden soil could endanger the houses above in Krishna Nagar locality,” he said and added the debris would be removed soon.

The district authorities had evacuated the people living in endangered houses while a large number of people had themselves shifted to safer places.