Incessant rain in Himachal Pradesh has led to huge loss of life and property with ten people losing their lives in Kinnaur while Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh himself is amongst hundreds stranded in several parts of the State.
The State has been witnessing heavy rains for past three days and on Monday, the situation worsened in tribal Kinnaur district, where officially ten people lost their lives due to landslides in different parts.
Five members of a family were killed in Chaugan village, after their house got buried under stone boulders and debris that fell due to rain. A father and daughter died at Moorang village of the district, when their mud thatched hut collapsed late night due to the incessant rains. A group of villagers in Moorang rescued a woman, who was trapped in the debris.
Another woman died after her house was washed away in flash flood in Yula village, five kilometers ahead of Tapri suburb that was affected due to sudden cloud burst.
Disaster management cell in Himachal Pradesh secretariat said that a child had also died in Baltrang village after he was hit by a boulder in the village, village 25 kilometers ahead of district headquarters Reckong Peo. One person had died yesterday, when car in which he was travelling was hit by a boulder.
Meanwhile, Government efforts to evacuate Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh from Sangla village where he is stranded for past 24-hours did not yield much results, as helicopters stationed in Rampur could not make sorties in wake of the rough weather conditions.
Chief minister had gone to Kinnaur for campaigning for Mandi parliamentary by-election from where his wife Pratibha Singh is contesting on a Congress ticket. “We have stationed the helicopter at Rampur, but so far weather gods have not been kind on us,” said Chief Secretary Sudripta Roy.
Officials maintained that NH-22, which crosses through the district from Shimla and connects to Tibet border, is also being blocked at over dozen places due to landslides crippling entire transportation and rescue work.
Due to the heavy rain more than 1000 tourists are stranded in different parts of the district at Sangla and Kalpa and are hoping for the weather condition to improve. Meteorological centre, Shimla has sounded warning for next 24 hours of heavy to very heavy rainfall in Sirmaur, Shimla and Kinnaur districts.
Meanwhile, the chief secretary chaired a high level meeting to cope-up with the situation arising due to adverse weather conditions and heavy rainfall in the state, particularly in tribal area of Kinnaur. He directed different agencies and departments to work in coordination to deal with the situation.
An appeal was made by chief secretary to the local people and tourists not to venture out during heavy rains as there was heavy risk of being trapped in landslides. State has also sounded alert to National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) stationed at Bathinda of Punjab and Indian army in case of any eventuality.
Due to the heavy rains, 22 workers of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation limited (HPPCl) have been stuck at the power house of Kashang Hydro Electric Project. Efforts are being made to evacuate them safely from the site.
The flash flood due to heavy rain washed away two trucks, one ferry van and an explosive van into the Satluj River incurring loss worth several lakhs to the power project. Due to bad weather and damaged roads D.K. Sharma, managing director, HPPCl, V.K. Tiwari, director (personnel), M.S. Rana, director (electrical) have also been stuck at Reckong Peo.
All the officials had gone for the project site inspection to Kinnaur. The 65 MW Kashang hydro electric project, is to be commissioned in October, 2013
Rs10cr for relief and restoration works
Shimla: The State Government has sanctioned Rs10 crore under State Disaster Relief Fund to provide immediate relief and carrying out restoration works in six districts of Himachal Pradesh which suffered heavy losses due to incessant rains and incidents of cloud bursts during past 2-3 days. A spokesperson of the State Government said that Rs10 3.50 crore had been sanctioned for Kinnaur district which had suffered the heaviest losses, Rs10 1.50 crore each for Mandi, Sirmaur, Kullu and Chamba districts while Rs10 50 lakh had been sanctioned for lahaul-Spiti district.