Monsoon fury: 56 houses damaged in Kasauli, Nalagarh, woman swept away

Ambika Sharma

Solan, August 25

As many as 28 concrete houses and 28 kutcha houses were damaged due to heavy rain in Kasauli and Nalagarh subdivisions of Solan district in the past 24 hours. The retaining walls of nine houses were damaged in the two subdivisions while 12 cowsheds in Kandaghat, Kasauli and Nalagarh subdivisions also suffered damage.

450 residents of 26 villages evacuated

• As many as 450 residents of 26 villages in Baddi, Ramshehar and Kasauli tehsils have been shifted to safer places in Solan district this rainy season.
• The 26 villages had suffered colossal damage due to subsidence this monsoon season, said Deputy Commissioner Manmohan Sharma.
• The villagers have either shifted to the houses of their relatives in nearby villages or have been accommodated at relief camps set up in nearby schools or community centres.
• Heavy rain has caused large-scale destruction in the district and washed away arable land of the residents of 26 villages.

Geeta Devi, a resident of Lower Tipra village in Barotiwala, was swept away in the Tipra Nullah near the helipad at Barotiwala in Nalagarh subdivision this morning. A search operation was underway to trace her. Landslide debris damaged the house of Rakesh Kumar at Khaltu village, besides inundating two bighas of arable land in Jadla panchayat. A large quantity of slush, boulders and debris inundated the fields, damaging two polyhouses and the standing crop.

The Subathu-Dharampur road remained closed for vehicular traffic for the second day today after its 200-m stretch was washed away in flashfloods. The erosion of hills at Naya Nagar adjoining Subathu town led to the flooding of the road following torrential rain 1.30 am to 6 am yesterday. Key buildings like an electricity control office, a temple, pump house, guesthouse, gas agency, 10-bed hospital, water tank and the office of the Military Engineering Services were damaged due to heavy rain.

Large quantities of muck flooded Khaltu village located below Naya Nagar, damaging several culverts and a chek dam. The muck obstructed the flow of water, causing damage to the Subathu-Kuthar road. It also led to the creation of an artificial lake over the T-point on the Khaltu-Arla stretch of the road, posing a threat to people living in its vicinity.

DC Manmohan Sharma said, “Residents of Thari village near Subathu have been shifted to Government Senior Secondary School, Subathu. All help is being extended to the Army authorities at Subathu to restore the road.”