Rain fury: 1,300 apple trees, 100-m road washed away in Shimla’s Chopal
Tribune News Service
Shimla, August 11
Heavy rain wreaked havoc in the Chopal subdivision of Shimla district as around 1,300 apple and 70 pear trees in the Paudiya panchayat were swept away and a 100-metre stretch of a link road connecting the panchayat to Nerwa, Chopal and Shimla were damaged due to a massive landslide in the wee hours of today.
No loss of life was reported in the incident. As per the reports, the landslide that occurred around 4 am destroyed apple orchards belonging to 10 villagers. The orchards belonged to Amar Singh, Pratap Singh, Mohan Singh, Gyan Singh, Joginader Singh Torta, Balbir Singh Torta, Prakash, Shyam, Naresh Kumar, all residents of Tarapur village, and Sunder Singh, a resident of Sarahan village under the Paudiya panchayat. Besides, 300 apple boxes belonging to Chet Ram were washed away in the landslide. Officials of the Revenue and Public Works Departments reached the spot to assess the loss.
Tapinder Mohan, pradhan of Paudiya panchayat, said the orchardists were worst affected as the apple and pears trees had been washed away in the incident. He said these apple trees were planted around 10 years ago and the fruit was already harvested.
“Around 10,000 apple boxes are ready for transportation to market. With 100-metre patch of the road connecting the panchayat to towns like Nerwa, Chopal and Shimla washed away, the orchardists are not able to take their produce to the market,” he said. He added that the orchardists here have appealed to the state government to repair the road as soon as possible.
Shimla DC Anupam Kashyap said that the district administration was assessing the loss in the incident. Appealing to the people to remain alert in the unpredictable weather, he advised them against going near rivers and avoid unnecessary travel.
Road to Shimla damaged
With 100-metre portion of the road connecting the panchayat to towns like Nerwa, Chopal and the state capital washed away, the orchardists are not able to take their produce to the market.” — Tapinder Mohan, Paudiya panchayat pradhan
