Shimla:

A total of 150 people have died in rain-related incidents so far since the onset of monsoon on June 27, officials here said on Friday.

According to the state emergency operation centre, the state has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 1,265 crore due to destruction cause by rain.

Forty roads — 12 in Mandi, ten in Kangra, nine in Kullu, five in Shimla, and one each in Una, Sirmaur, Chamba and Lahaul and Spiti — are closed for vehicular traffic, while five power and 19 water supply schemes are affected in the state, the centre said.

The local meteorological office has warned of low flash-flood in parts of Mandi, Shimla, and Sirmaur till Saturday, and issued a ‘yellow alert,’ predicting heavy rain, thunderstorm, and lightning on September 2.

In the 24 hours since Thursday evening, several places in the state have seen moderate rain.

The highest precipitation was witnessed by Naina devi, which received 66.8 mm of it.

Sundernagar logged 47.1 mm, Jubbarhatti 22.8 mm, Bharari 16.2 mm, Shimla 16 mm, Bilaspur 15.8 mm, Manali 15 mm, Una 13 mm, Dharamshala 12 mm, and Kangra 10.4 mm of rainfall.

Himachal’s rainfall deficit so far stands at 23 per cent — 467.9 mm against an average of 608.7 mm.

On Thursday, Kukumseri in Lahaul and Spiti was the coldest place in the state, recording a low of 9.6 degrees Celsius, while Bilaspur was the hottest with 33.9 degrees.

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Shimla:

Flash floods triggered by cloudbursts in Shimla, Kullu and Mandi districts of Himachal Pradesh on July 31 midnight have so far claimed 22 lives while operations are underway to trace over 30 missing persons, officials said on Wednesday.

The flash floods were reported in Kullu’s Nirmand, Sainj and Malana, Mandi’s Padhar and Shimla’s Rampur.

The worst hit was Samej village, which falls under the Sarpara Panchayat in Rampur subdivision, where about 25 people are missing.

Nine bodies have been recovered from Mandi’s Rajbhan village, three from Nirmand and Bagipul in Kullu district and 10 from Samej and surrounding areas of Dhadkol, Bro and Sunni Dam in Shimla district, officials said.

Of the total 22 bodies, six were recovered on Wednesday — four in Shimla and two in Kullu. Twelve bodies have been identified so far and DNA samples are being taken for identification of the bodies, police said.

The search operations are underway in an about 85-km stretch, according to the officials.

State Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi on Wednesday said the chances of recovering more bodies are dim as the area washed out has already been searched.

Family members of the around 30 people who are still missing have begun losing hope as the search operations to trace the victims entered the seventh day on Wednesday amid incessant rains.

Sharing details about the ongoing operation in Samej village, Assistant Commanding Officer, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Karam Singh said, “It is raining but the joint search and rescue operations are underway.” “The water level is rising in Sutlej River and slides are also occurring at multiple places. JCBs and other machines are being used to clear the roads. Our soldiers are skilled and cross the river through ropes to search the sites where there is any possibility of finding the missing people”, Singh added.

The family members of the missing persons who have been camping at the site for the past week are now praying for the recovery of bodies to perform last rites.

“My brother, two sisters-in-law, daughter-in-law, nephews and niece are missing,” said Moti Ram who along with one of his daughter-in-law and grandson survived as they were out of home when the tragedy struck.

The water level in the river is increasing and the rescue teams are facing a lot of difficulty due to the continuous rains, said Kair Singh, a local.

Meanwhile, last rites of two persons — Rachna and Pritika — were performed by their family members in Samej.

As the rains continued to pund the region, the local meteorological office issued an orange alert of heavy to very heavy rainfall, thunderstorm and lightning at isolated places in the state for Wednesday and Saturday.

The Met also said that monsoon activity is likely to intensify in the next five to six days with fairly widespread rains.

BJP MP Kangana Ranaut who visited Samej village on Tuesday and other parts of Shimla and Kullu accused the state Congress government of doing “nothing” to help the victims.

According to the officials, 663 rescuers from teams of the Army, NDRF, SDRF, ITBP, CISF, Himachal Pradesh Police and home guards are involved in the hunt and rescuers have intensified the search operation by deploying more machinery, sniffer dog squad, drones and other equipment.

A total of 94 people were killed in rain-related incidents between June 27 and August 7 and the state suffered losses amounting to Rs 787 crore, according to the officials.

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Shimla/Nahan:

As many as 40 persons died in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh since the onset of monsoon on June 27 till July 20 and the state has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 329 crore, according to the state emergency operation centre.

One person was washed away as a cloudburst incident took place in Raitua village in Anj Bhoj area under Paonta subdivision in Sirmaur district late Friday night.

Confirming the incident, Paonta Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Gunjeet Cheema said that immediately after getting the information of a cloudburst in Raitua village, a team of Puruwala police station with the help of local residents launched a search operation in the five km long area where the Raitua Nullah flows to join the Tons River.

After a night long rescue and search operation, the dead body of a 48-year-old person identified as Aman Singh, a resident of Danda Anj village, was recovered from the Tons river on Saturday morning.

The SDM said that as per the information Singh along with his daughter rushed towards his cowshed situated near Raitua Nullaha after he heard a sound of gushing water in the Nullah.

The nullah was flooding following a cloudburst up side the stream. The increasing flash flood washed away Singh but he succeeded in saving the life of his daughter by pushing her away from the flooded area.

After the daughter raised an alarm, the residents of Raitua village rushed to the spot and started a search for Singh. They also informed the Puruwala police and local administration about the incident.

After a night long search, Singh’s dead body was found this morning in the Tons river, the SDM added.

The local MeT office on Saturday warned of moderate flash floods risk in few areas in Sirmaur and Shimla districts in the next 24 hours and issued an orange warning of heavy to very heavy rains, thunderstorms and lightning at isolated areas in the state on July 23.

It also issued yellow warning of heavy rains at isolated areas in the state on July 21, 22, 24 and 25 and cautioned of damage to plantation, horticulture and standing crops, partial damage to vulnerable structures, minor damage to kutcha houses and huts due to strong winds and rain, disruption in traffic and waterlogging in the low-lying areas.

Meanwhile, intermittent rains lashed a few parts of the state in the past 24 hours and Nahan in Sirmaur district with 60.4 mm was wettest in the state followed by Bilaspur while Kasauli, Dalhousie, Slapper received rain ranging between 1 to 3 mm.

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Shimla:

Almost three months after monsoon hit parts of Himachal Pradesh, heavy rainfall picked up pace again, blocking twenty-four roads in five districts of the state.

According to the data by the State Disaster Management Authority, “16 roads remain blocked in Lahaul-Spiti district, 4 in Shimla, 2 in Kullu and 1 each in Kangra and Kinnaur districts.”

As per data from the State Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi, “Since the onset of monsoon fury in the state, 468 people have died, 487 injured and 40 are missing.”

“2,647 houses have been completely damaged, 1,129 houses damaged partially, 320 shops damaged and 5,977 Cowsheds damaged,” it said.

Additionally, the data suggested reports of 168 landslide and 72 flash flood incidents during the past three months.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday tabled a resolution in the State Assembly to demand the Union government to announce the Disaster-hit Himachal Pradesh as a National Disaster whereas the opposition has brought the adjournment motion under rule 67 for discussion on the disaster situation in the state.

Both the ruling Congress and Opposition BJP held Legislative party meetings. A total of seven meetings will be held in the session till September 25.

In the monsoon session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly which started in Shimla here on Monday, a total of 743 questions were received by the Assembly secretariat in the session. Out of which 70 per cent of questions were related to the disaster. One notice under Rule 62, 2 notices under Rule 101, 9 notices under Rule 130, one notice under Rule 102, and 1 notice under Rule 324 have been received.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu appealed to the opposition to bring issues related to disaster and funds from the Union government during the assembly.

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu also thanked the Congress working committee for passing a resolution to demand from Union government to announce the Disaster hit Himachal Pradesh as a National Disaster.

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Shimla:

As many as 112 roads, including National Highway 305, were blocked in Himachal Pradesh due to rainfall on Sunday, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre.

Besides this, 12 water supply schemes have also been disrupted. One fire incident has been reported in the past 24 hours, according to government data.

According to official data, an average of about seven individuals have been losing their lives daily in rain-linked occurrences within the hilly state since the monsoon’s commencement on June 24.

Himachal Pradesh has been battered by heavy rainfall for the past several weeks and the state has suffered great loss of life as well as property in various rain-related incidents, such as landslides, cloudbursts, flash floods, etc.

Apart from casualties, the disaster management said that the monetary loss is expected to reach nearly Rs 12,000 crore.

Meanwhile, out of the total deaths as per data available with the state disaster management authority, 136 people have lost their lives due to landslides and flash floods. A total of 231 people have lost their lives due to road accidents or other reasons, the government added.

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Shimla:

Revenue Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jagat Singh Negi on Friday said that since the onset of monsoon on June 24, 400 people have died and over 400 have been injured in the rain-related disaster.

He said that so far over 2500 houses have been completely damaged and over 11000 houses have been partially damaged.

Jagat Singh Negi said that a large number of people have also lost their land and we don’t have a pool for land allotment in most of the places in the state. “We shall have to seek amendments in law as in most of the places there are forests Rights act implemented in the state. We shall speak to the Union government in this regard,” said Jagat Singh Negi.

Speaking about the rumoured ‘One Nation One Election’ likely to be brought in the special monsoon session called by the Central Government, Jagat Singh Negi said that the Lok Sabha elections are very close and in such a situation, the BJP is making such statements to divert the attention of the public from the real issues. “India is already a country BJP is trying to take political advantage by raising such issues.”

“I want to ask that are they trying to destabilize the elected governments in the country? This entire process will take nearly 6 to 7 months in the completion of the election process. This will also have an impact on the financial state of the country as Crores of rupees would be spent on it.” said Jagat Singh Negi.

On being asked about INDIA Alliance parties getting together, he said that this is a good sign to end the communal and dividing forces in the country. He said that it is very good they have started coming together and a common platform and programme has been made right from sharing of seats to doing election rallies.

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