Landslide blocks Chail road for 7 hrs

Tribune News Service

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Solan, July 13

Rain wreaked havoc in Kandaghat subdivision with the Sadhupul-Chail road remaining blocked for seven hours as huge mounds of debris fell on the road. More than 700 vehicles had been stuck on both sides of the road for hours.

A hotel on the road faced a colossal damage as large chunk of debris along with rainwater gushed in its rooms this morning. The occupants of a car had a close shave when their car was swept away by the debris.

Several vehicles parked on the road were also buried under the debris. A hotel employee Dimple developed minor injuries when he jumped from the hotel to save himself. Several guests in the hotel also saved themselves by abandoning the building as soon as slush and rain started flowing in.

Kandaghat tehsildar OP Mehta, who rushed to the spot to initiate relief and rescue operations, said three JCB machines were pressed into service to clear the road which took about seven hours. He said a loss of about Rs15 lakh to Rs20 lakh was suffered by the owner of the hotel while loss worth about Rs6 lakh was suffered by another hotelier who was operating a camping site on the spot.

The house of a local Dheeraj Gupta and his brother at Rabaun in Solan developed cracks, making the building unsafe. With a portion of its base having been eroded, a section of the house was precariously hanging in the air.

Trouble started when excavation of the hill by the company fourlaning the highway erected low breast walls which failed to provide adequate protection to the house. Gupta said though he had been requesting the administration as well as the company to raise the level of walls but no heed was paid to his request.

He blamed both for endangering his house which would worsen further with the rain. Though the company staff did initiate relief operations, the action was considered too little too late.

Met warns of heavy rain

• Heavy rain lashed several parts as the monsoon remained active in the state. 
• The MeT office has warned of heavy rain in lower and mid hills from July 14 to 16 and rain or snow in higher hills for six days from July 14
• While mid and lower hills had widespread rain, triggering landslides at many places blocking the link roads, the high-altitude tribal areas and other high-mountain passes had mild snowfall
• Sarahan was the wettest with 131 mm rain while intermittent heavy rain are continuing. Naina Devi and Bilaspur received 82 mm and 71 mm rain
• The rain has brought cheer to farmers and the monsoon rain deficit, which was 44 per cent on June 29, has come down to 35 per cent between June 1 and July 13.

Officialspeak

"Three JCB machines were pressed into service to clear the road which took about seven hours. A loss of about Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh was suffered by the owner of the hotel due to debris, while the loss worth about Rs 6 lakh was suffered by another hotelier operating a camping site on the spot." OP Mehta, Kandaghat tehsildar