Worst rain crisis, Himachal pegs its losses at Rs 4,000 cr

Tribune News Service

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, July 10

Several scary incidents of cloudbursts, landslides and flashfloods, fuelled by the third day of torrential rain, were witnessed in Himachal on Monday. The state government has pegged its losses at around Rs 4,000 crore even as the death toll has reached 17.

“There has been widespread damage to roads, power transformers, electric sub-stations and water supply schemes. The loss, as per an initial estimate, is in the range of Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 4,000 crore,” said Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.

Several videos of buildings collapsing and vehicles being swept away in the gushing waters of drains, rivulets and rivers continued to flood the social media. Three Nepal-origin persons were buried alive in their house at a village near Theog in Shimla district.

As many as 1,321 roads, including Mandi-Kullu, Gramphu-Losar (Lahaul-Spiti), Kullu-Manali and Aut-Jalori national highways, have been blocked. More than 4,500 power distribution transformers have been rendered non-functional while over 750 water supply schemes have been affected. The Himachal Road Transport Corporation has suspended services on 1,255 routes while its 576 buses lie stranded in various parts of the state due to blockades. In the three-day monsoon mayhem, one hotel and 11 houses have been completely damaged while 20 houses have suffered partial damage. Manali and Solan received the highest-ever rainfall in a day on Sunday while Una and Pachhad in Sirmaur recorded highest single-day rainfall today. The weather department has predicted some relief from adverse weather from tomorrow.

4 washed away in Beas

Four persons were washed away in the flooded Beas in Kullu district while a few houses were damaged at different locations

Three buried alive

Three Nepal-origin persons were buried alive after the house they were in was struck by a landslide at Pallavi village in Theog subdivision of Shimla on Monday morning

300 stranded

20 persons stranded in Manali were rescued, but about 300 others were stuck across various parts of the state, officials said.