On the third successive day, heavy rainfall and cloudburst in Dharampur area of Sarkaghat sub-division of Mandi district wreaked widespread damage.
About 300 head of cattle are reported to have been buried alive in the cowsheds which collapsed in heavy rain. Heavy rainfall was reported in Mandi, Kullu, Bilaspur and Hamirpur district after which all rivers and rivulets are in spate.
As many as 250 houses have been damaged as the cloudburst struck on Saturday night adversely affecting 20 villages in a radius of 5 kms here. Also, hundreds of residents of five Panchayats ran to safer places for their safety and survival abandoning their homes. However, no loss of human life has been reported, said former Minister and MlA Thakur Mahender Singh, who represents Dharampur constituency.
Deputy Commissioner, Sandeep Kadam, with a team of his officials, visited the affected villages and assured that relief and rehabilitation measures would be taken on a war-footing.
According to an eye-witness, the entire Dharampur area is a scene of devastation due to heavy rain continuing for 3 days. Many houses, shops and educational institutions have been inundated causing loss of several crores of rupees. Maximum loss has been caused to Sarswati Vidya Mandir, Dharampur.
The entire area has been plunged into darkness due to power failure for the last 5 days. According to officials, it might take some time for restoring the power supply for which about 300 new electric poles were required.It is feared that large scale death of animals might break out epidemics in the area.The situation is no better in other parts of the district. In Gohar area, a big herd of sheep and goat was buried alive due to a landslide.The national highways passing through the district have also been fractured at many points due to falling of rocks and big boulders.