No power, roads blocked; Banjar residents urge CM for urgent relief & restoration work

Normal life has been affected in the Banjar Assembly constituency of Kullu district following the rain disaster, which has deprived hundreds of residents of basic amenities. For the past 13 days, the region has been grappling with widespread destruction caused by massive landslides.

Local residents such as Purushottam Sharma, Hari Ram Chaudhary, Mahesh Sharma, Guman Singh and Hem Raj Sharma have urged the state government and Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to announce urgent relief measures and swift restoration of essential services.

“There has been no electricity in Banjar for over 13 days and in several remote villages, power supply has not resumed for more than two weeks,” said Purushottam Sharma. He added that the National Highway-305, a lifeline of the region, is partially blocked even 45 days after it was damaged.

Landslides and road subsidence have been reported at more than 25 locations, rendering the area inaccessible. “Over 70 buses operate from Banjar but not even one has been able to run for several days,” said Hari Ram Chaudhary. In Dhaman, Sihra and Mangalur villages, roads had repeatedly collapsed due to soil erosion and slope damage, he added.

The main Aut-Banjar road has been partially restored for small vehicles but is still unstable and broken in many stretches. Even pedestrian paths are blocked, forcing residents to walk for hours through difficult terrains. “Critically-ill patients are being carried in chairs for kilometres to hospitals,” said Mahesh Sharma, a resident of the Sainj valley. He added that while the Sainj market-Aut road had reopened, remote villages in the Sainj valley were still cut off from road and deprived of power supply.

Sari, Matla, Jeeva, Larji, Dhaman, Mangalur, Sharai, Singhwa, Thatibeed, Shil, Snaad, Gushaini, Bandal villages and the Tirthan valley have suffered extensive damage. In Bandal, an entire village has reportedly slid downhill due to massive soil movement.

More than 85 houses in Sari village have been evacuated as a safety measure. Residents are demanding tarpaulin sheets to protect their houses and fields from landslides. Communication services remain patchy and mobile phone networks are functional only partially. Many homes, especially in higher-altitude villages, are completely disconnected.

To add to the crisis, the disaster has hit during the peak apple and pomegranate harvesting season, resulting in huge financial losses. “As roads are blocked, farmers are unable to transport their produce and fruits are rotting in fields,” they said.

They added, “There is also a severe shortage of cooking gas and ration supplies. Children have not been able to attend school for nearly two months. Schools were scheduled to reopen on August 14 but continuous landslides forced their closure till now.”

The residents are demanding deployment of emergency teams to restore electricity, roads, and bus services. They also emphasise the need for reopening transport routes so that farmers could bring their produce to market.

SDM, Banjar, Pankaj Sharma said that the restoration work was in full swing. Water supply and mobile phone services had been restored partially and road connectivity had been restored beyond Banjar from Aut, while efforts were underway to restore it to Jibhi within one or two days, he added.

“Similarly, roads have been restored up to Sainj and efforts are underway to restore it beyond Sainj towards remote villages, where horticulture produce is stuck. Where ever possible, the administration is trying to transport the horticulture produce of farmers via alternative routes but in the Sainj valley, efforts are underway to restore road connectivity at the earliest. The administration has provided over 1,200 tarpaulins to the affected families and ration has been supplied to them with the help of helicopters,” he added.