The death toll due to flash floods triggered by cloudbursts in three districts of Himachal Pradesh has increased to 13 with the recovery of four bodies from Mandi and Shimla districts on Sunday.
According to the official data, more than 40 people are still missing after a series of cloudbursts occurred in Kullu’s Nirmand, Sainj and Malana, Mandi’s Padhar and Shimla’s Rampur subdivision on the night of July 31.
Rescuers have intensified the search operation by deploying more machinery, sniffer dog squads, drones and other equipment, officials told news agency PTI.
HIMACHAL PRADESH WEATHER UPDATES
Himachal Pradesh has suffered a loss of Rs 662 crore since the onset of monsoon on June 27 till August 4. The disaster has left a trail of destruction, claiming lives and sweeping away infrastructure across the state. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu disclosed that the losses incurred since June 27 have encompassed significant damage to infrastructure and other assets.
As the search operations are underway, locals claimed there was no electricity in three villages — Samej, Dhara Sarda and Kushwa located on the border of Shimla and Kullu, since the flash floods happened on Wednesday night and roads have also been damaged. Officials told PTI that 410 rescuers from teams of the Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force, Assam (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Himachal Pradesh Police and home guards were involved in the hunt.
On Sunday, former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition, Jai Ram Thakur, visited Samej village and took stock of the situation and met the disaster-affected people. Earlier on Friday, the state government announced an immediate relief of Rs 50,000 for the victims and said they would be given Rs 5,000 monthly for rent for the next three months, along with gas, food and other essential items.
A total of 87 roads are closed in Himachal Pradesh due to cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides. The local meteorological office has issued a yellow alert for heavy showers, thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh till August 8 (Thursday). The MeT also cautioned of the possibility of landslides and flash floods in vulnerable areas and damage to plantations and standing crops, vulnerable structures and ‘kutcha’ houses due to strong winds, and waterlogging in low-lying areas.
As many as 41 transformers and 66 water supply schemes have been disrupted. Hamirpur in the state received highest rainfall at 54 mm since Friday evening, followed by Berthin and Dharamshala 19 mm each, Neri 11 mm, Kangra 9.7 mm, Kukumseri 9.6 mm, Sundernagar 8.1 mm, Manali and Chamba 6 mm each and Bajaura 5 mm. Kukumseri in Lahaul and Spiti were coldest at night, recording a low of 12.1 degrees Celsius, while Una was the hottest during the day with a high of 36.8 degrees Celsius.