As the fury of the rains abated on Tuesday,  Himachal Pradesh authorities took stock of the havoc triggered by the record rainfall, saying 31 people have been killed, nearly 1,300 roads closed due to landslides and floods and 40 major bridges damaged.

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.

Officiating Director General of Police Satwant Atwal said 31 people have died in the recent rains in the past three days, adding that 250 tourists are stranded in Chandertal and 300 in Sissu in the Lahaul and Spiti district and 300 in parts of Mandi district.  An attempt to evacuate them by an IAF helicopter failed due to bad weather, Atwal said.

There was little rain on Tuesday, helping 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 said.

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 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 emergency response centre said. Out of the total 80 deaths so far from the beginning of the monsoons, 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.

 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. Several areas in Kullu and Mandi remained without electricity as 2,577 transformers were disrupted, while the water supply was also affected in many areas as 1,418 water supply schemes suffered damage.

Manali town and the adjoining areas remained cut off for almost a day as roads were blocked due to landslides. Mobile connectivity has also been disrupted. 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. The meteorological department has warned of the possibility of moderate to high flash floods in Shimla, Sirmaur and Kinnaur districts.

HIMACHAL CM VISITS FLOOD HIT AREAS

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu conducted an aerial survey of districts of Kullu, Mandi, and Lahaul-Spiti to assess the damage caused by relentless rains triggering floods and landslides during the last three days and also  visited various affected areas, including Bhuntar, Sainj, Kasol, Kheerganga and in Kullu district.

He also interacted with the people who suffered losses due to floods and expressed his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and assured that every possible assistance would be provided by the State Government and immediately announced a relief of rupees one crore for the area.

He told them that six helicopters had been deployed to carry out rescue operations and evacuate the stranded tourists and local residents. The first helicopter sortie took off in the morning to rescue stranded people at Chandertal but had to return back due to adverse weather conditions. However, the authorities were prioritizing the evacuation of elderly and sick from Chandertal and the teams have left for the site.

As the flash floods had severely disrupted the communication network in the affected areas two satellite phones have been provided to the local police personnel at Sainj for communicating during an emergency. The Chief Minister has assured the residents that all out efforts were being made to restore these services at the earlies

PWD MINISTER HOLD MEETING WITH NHAI OFFICIALS FOR RESTORATION OF ROADS 

In a review meeting held with the officers of National Highway Authorities of India (NHAI), Vikramaditya Singh, Public Works Department (PWD) Minister, said that due to incessant rains in the state for the last few days, there has been a  damage of crores  to the roads including the National Highways (NH) in the State.  

The Government is making concerted efforts to reopen all the closed roads and clear the National Highways as soon as possible. "I have spoken to the Union Road Transport Minister, Nitin Gadkari and have urged him for the time bound restoration of NH's.  On the request of the government, NHAI Secretary, Manoj Kumar is on a State visit to take stock of the situation and assess the damages to NHs.

A detailed discussion was held on the damages caused to the Kiratpur-Manali four-lane as National Highway Authority has assessed maximum damage on this NH between Raison and Manali. The work of opening this route for all types of vehicles is going on  war footing, said the Minister.

Vikramaditya said that the water in Beas River has crossed all the previous danger marks and NHAI should consider raising the height of the National Highway in this area so that such incidents can be avoided in future.  The Minister also directed to arrange for an alternative route on the Pinjore-Baddi-Nalagarh highway besides immediate repair of Maddanwala bridge.  At present single lane movement of vehicles is being allowed on this route.

WATER SUPPLY REMAINS DISRUPTED IN SHIMLA, TANKERS PRESSED INTO SERVICE 

Water supply to several parts of Shimla  remained disrupted for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday as heavy silt following incessant rains affected pumping of water. Water is being supplied through tankers to the residents and ten tankers have been pressed into service, Mayor of the Corporation Surender Chauhan said. Shimla received 6.58 mld (million litre per day) of water on Tuesday against the average 42-45 mld as no pumping was done from the Giri water source, according to the Shimla Jal Prabandhan Nigam Limited (SJPNL) officials.