Himachal Pradesh takes stock of rain damage, toll rises to 31

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh authorities on Tuesday took stock of the havoc caused by the recent rains, saying 31 people have been killed in three days in landslides and floods which blocked nearly 1,300 roads and damaged 40 major bridges.

In Kullu's Sainj area alone, around 40 shops and 30 houses were washed away, according to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who conducted an aerial survey of the Kasol, Manikaran, Kheer Ganga and Pulga areas. The chief minister interacted with people stranded in Kullu and shared a meal with them.

He said seven people were airlifted from the tourist spot Chandertal in Lahaul and Spiti. Two of them have been admitted to a hospital.

He said tourists stranded in Manali would be evacuated by Tuesday night as the Kullu-Manali road has been partially restored and mobile connectivity was also back in Manali after a day.

He said tourists stuck in any part of the state including Chandertal and Sissu in Lahaul and Spiti would be evacuated by Wednesday.

Officiating Director General of Police Satwant Atwal said 31 people have died in the recent rains in the past three days. He said 250 tourists are stranded in Chandertal and 300 in Sissu in the Lahaul and Spiti district and 300 in parts of Mandi district.

There was let-up in the rainfall activity on Tuesday, allowing the authorities to intensify the restoration of damaged infrastructure.

Officials said the Shimla-Kalka highway, which was blocked for vehicular traffic due to a cave-in following a landslide at the Chakki Mor area near Jabli, has been partially restored for one-way traffic. A large number of vehicles, however, are stranded on both sides of the road.

The state education department has issued an order stating all government schools will be closed till July 15. The state public service commission has rescheduled the Himachal Pradesh Administrative Service Competitive (Preliminary) Examination to August 20 in the wake of the bad weather.

The chief minister said excessive damage has been caused by the rainfall in the past few days. There is not even a single panchayat in the state where roads and water supply schemes have not been damaged, he stressed.

The CM announced Rs 1 lakh to all the affected families. As per the relief manual only Rs 5,000 are given to an affected family. Sukhu said the estimated loss due to heavy rains have roughly touched Rs 4,000 crores.

A rescue team from Kaza has reached Kunzum Top and is a few kilometres away from the lake, Principal Secretary of Revenue Onkar Chand Sharma said, adding that about 100 people were rescued from different places in the hill state on Monday.

According to officials, about 800 people are still stranded at Chandertal and Pagal Nallah in Lahaul and different parts of Mandi.

As per the state emergency response centre, Himachal has suffered a cumulative loss to the tune of Rs 1,050 crore since the onset of monsoon on June 24 and 80 people have been killed, while 10 are missing.

However, Sukhu on Monday said an assessment of the losses is underway and it is estimated to be in the range of Rs 3,000-Rs 4,000 crore.

As many as 1,299 roads, including the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway, were blocked for vehicular traffic and 3,737 water supply schemes were affected, data from the response centre said.

Out of the total 80 deaths so far, 24 are attributed to road accidents while landslides claimed 21 lives, followed by falling from height (12), accidental drowning (seven), flash floods (five), electrocution (four), snake bite (two) and others (5), according to the data.

In total, 79 houses have been damaged completely and 333 partially, it showed.

Bus service is suspended on 1,284 routes of the Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC), according to transport officials.

The supply of essential items was hit in several areas, including Shimla and Manali, as the Chandigarh-Manali and the Shimla-Kalka national highways were closed following landslides, caving-in of roads and flooding.

There were reports of landslides in Shamti, in the suburbs of Solan, which damaged two houses and an office while about 10 houses were affected.

Water was supplied from tankers as several parts of the capital city remained without water for the fourth consecutive day as heavy silt in water following incessant rains affected pumping. Shimla received 6.58 mld (million litre per day) of water on Tuesday against the average 42-45 mld.

The meteorological department has warned of the possibility of moderate to high flash floods in Shimla, Sirmaur and Kinnaur districts.