Flashfloods damage roads, bridges in Rampur, Kotkhai

Flashfloods and landslides devastated several places in Shimla district since yesterday evening. Several roads and vehicles were damaged and bridges, shops and sheds were swept away. Besides, a 20-year-old girl died in Rampur after hit by a shooting stone on the head today.

Ganvi gram panchayat in Rampur subdivision and the Khaltu Nullah area in Kotkhai subdivision of Shimla district suffered the maximum damage. Incidentally, it’s not the first time these places have endured the wrath of nature. In 2023, a major portion of the Khaltu Nullah market had sunk and one multi-storeyed building had collapsed. Flashfloods had hit Ganvi panchayat last year as well when Samej village was devastated.

“Ganvi is a major marketplace for many panchayats falling in the Rampur block. The marketplace has been destroyed by the overflowing Ganvi khud,” said Jagdish Kumar, vice-pradhan of the panchayat. “Three bridges have been destroyed, several sheds and seven or eight shops have been swept away. Water and muck have entered several houses, forcing people to vacate them,” he added. A local bus stand was submerged and a police post and an electricity office were swept away.

At the Khaltu Nullah, five or six vehicles were buried under the debris of a landslide. “A cloudburst in the higher hills brought a lot of debris and muck along, burying around 10 vehicles parked in the market. Besides, about a 500 metre to 700 metre stretch of a road was also damaged,” said Mahveer Kalta, a BDC member of the area. “Link roads are in the worse condition. Damaged roads are going to hit the apple season. This area had suffered massive damage in the 2023 rain disaster and now it has started all over again,” he added.

In Shimla, too, heavy rain triggered landslides and uprooted trees. Besides, roads at several other places in upper Shimla were damaged and obstructed by landslides. In many places, farmland and orchards were damaged. “I’ve lost around 20 to 25 apple trees in the landslide,” said an apple grower of Dhamandari, a small village in Theog. Over 100 link roads have been damaged, which will affect the transportation of apple to mandis.