Cloudbursts rained disaster from the sky on Saturday night causing loss of crores of rupees to land and property besides taking a toll of three lives in Mandi and the adjoining districts of Hamirpur and Kullu.
A cloudburst in village Khalol of Chuhar valley wrecked havoc as Nagar nullah turned into a demon and washed out many houses including private tout fish farms. Swollen Uhl devoured over 300 bighas of fertile land in Rooling and Multan villages. Falling of rocks damaged many link roads cutting off the villages from the rest of the State.
One person each died in heavy rains in Kullu, Mandi and Hamirpur district, reports said. Shimla — Palampur bus carrying about 50 passengers remained stranded for over six hours near Gumma on Pathankot — Mandi highway as huge debris slipped on the road and the persons sitting in the bus had a narrow escape. Hundreds of people rescued the passengers also fished out the bus from the mud.
PWD officials have rushed to Barot from Mandi and Kangra districts to assess the quantum of damage. Additional Deputy Commissioner Mandi Gopal Chand also rushed with his team of officials to the affected areas to supervise the relief and rehabilitation measures. Those who had been rendered shelterless were supplied free ration for two months and cooking gas as immediate relief, said ADC.
Uhl had played havoc in the year 1948 when half of Barot Bazaar on the left bank had been swallowed by it. It also caused massive damage in 2012 and 2005. But this time, the loss is huge breaking all previous records.
In Dharampur area of Sarkaghat sub-division where reports of land erosion were pouring in at the district headquarters here, 11 houses totally sunk to the ground and dozens other houses developed wide cracks and the district authorities had ordered compulsory vacation of the endangered houses. Massive loss has been caused here also by a small cloudburst entailing loss of over Rs 1 crore.
Former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his son and MP Anurag Thakur visited the affected villages and assured the victims for expediting relief measures and financial assistance without delay. Village Satehar has been declared "most unsafe", by the authorities.
In Jogindernagar subdivision residents of Tikkar, Mushehra and the cluster of other villages, people spent night under the open sky braving heavy rain. The ferocious Bazgar River went in spate and assumed catastrophic proportions causing huge loss of fields and houses on its both banks.