Himachal rain fury: 52 killed, search operation intensified for missing 28

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh has witnessed 23 flash floods, 19 cloudbursts and 16 landslides since the onset of monsoon on June 20, and 52 people have died in rain-related incidents in the state so far, officials said on Monday.

In the worst-hit Mandi district, search and rescue operations have been intensified with drones and sniffer dogs being used to trace 28 people who went missing last week in the Thunag, Gohar and Karsog subdivisions, they said.

On Monday, a landslide occurred in Sai Kharsi area of Bilaspur district and a large part of a mountain fell on a petrol pump. However, no casualty was reported. Eyewitnesses said that suddenly a huge amount of debris and rocks started coming down from the mountain and fell on the petrol pump.

In Mandi, about 250 personnel from the National and State Disaster Response Forces, Army, and Indo-Tibetan Border Police, along with home guards and locals, are undertaking the search and rescue work.

Besides, 20 teams are gathering information and distributing ration and medical kits in inaccessible areas, the officials said.

According to official data, the state has reported 80 deaths since June 20, of which 52 are linked to rain-related incidents such as cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides. The rest 28 fatalities were associated with road accidents, the officials said.

Several leaders including Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut, Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, state BJP chief Rajiv Bindal, and several cabinet ministers have visited the affected areas.

Deputy CM Agnihotri said that nearly 241 water supply projects were damaged in the region, including the largest scheme worth Rs 121 crore in the Seraj and Balichowki areas. The Jal Shakti Department has estimated losses exceeding Rs 100 crore in Seraj constituency alone, he said.

Assuring all possible assistance to the affected families and reaffirming the government’s commitment to restoring normalcy at the earliest, Agnihotri said that so far, around 140 water schemes were partially restored.

BJP leader Thakur, who took aerial view of the affected Jhanjeli area in Thunag subdivision of his assembly constituency Seraj and also met the people, claimed that even after a week the government has not provided relief material to the affected people.

Even drinking water is not available to them, he alleged.

However, the officials said that so far, 1,538 ration kits have been distributed to the affected people and immediate monetary relief of Rs 12.44 lakh has been provided. An additional Rs 5 lakh each is being sent to the Thunag and Janjheli areas, they added.

According to the latest data, about 225 houses, seven shops, 243 cattle sheds, 31 vehicles, 14 bridges and several roads were damaged in the disaster. A total of 215 cattle have perished, while 494 people have been rescued, the data said.

Till Monday evening, 235 roads were closed in the state, of which 176 were in Mandi district alone. Additionally, 163 transformers were affected in the state, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).

Meanwhile, light to moderate rain lashed parts of the state. Nangal Dam received 56 mm of rain, followed by Olinda (46 mm), Berthin (44.6 mm), Una (43 mm), Naina Devi (36.4 mm), Gohar (29 mm) and Brahmani (28.4 mm).

The local MeT office has issued a yellow warning for heavy rain at isolated places in four districts of Una, Hamirpur, Solan and Sirmaur districts till Wednesday.

The estimated losses due to the rains so far stand at around Rs 692 crore, as per the SEOC, though the government maintained the figure was close to Rs 700 crore as data was still being compiled.