Shimla:

Rescue operations were underway on Friday to trace over 45 people missing following flash floods triggered by cloudbursts in three districts of Himachal Pradesh, officials said on Friday.

With the recovery of three more bodies, the death count due to the flash floods in the Nirmand, Sainj and Malana areas in Kullu, Padhar in Mandi and Rampur in the Shimla districts of Himachal Pradesh has increased to eight.

While five bodies were found in Rajban village in Mandi, one was found in Nirmand in Kullu and two in Rampur in Shimla. The two bodies recovered in Rajban were identified as those of Aman (9) and Aryan (8), officials said on Friday.

Relatives of the missing persons are camping at the sites with hope fading with every passing hour.

“Bodies of my father-in-law and mother-in-law have been recovered but my son, my brother-in-law, his wife and their six-year-old son and two-month-old daughter are still missing,” a wailing woman told PTI Videos.

“Fear of death kept us awake all night as we climbed to a mountain to stay safe,” said another villager who came out after hearing screams to see houses swept in flash floods.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu along with Education Minister Rohit Thakur visited Samej on the border of Shimla and Kullu district to take stock of the situation and talk to the victims.

At the site of the Malana II power project in the Manikaran area of Kullu district, 33 stranded people were rescued on Thursday night and this morning, Deputy Commissioner, Kullu, Torul S Raveesh, said on Friday.

A wall and way to a tunnel were damaged due to rains and water entered the barrage but the teams of the NDRF and home guard managed to rescue the people.

Talking to reporters outside Parliament in the national capital, BJP MP from Mandi Lok Sabha seat Kangana Ranaut expressed anguish over the loss of lives in the cloudburst incidents, and said the life of people in the tough terrain is difficult and such disasters are adding to their pain every year.

“The prime minister and home minister have assured that relief would be given to the state. I am also going to different ministries in New Delhi to get help for Himachal and will visit the state soon,” she added.

Personnel of the Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police, State Disaster Response Force, police and home guards are involved in the rescue operations and the help of drones is being taken to locate the missing persons, officials added.

The maximum damage was caused in Samej area of Rampur subdivision of Shimla district as a cloudburst near Shrikhand Mahadev route on Wednesday night triggered flash floods in Sarpara, Ganvi and Kurban nallahs. The cloudburst affected both Shimla and Kullu districts.

Three people are missing and 15 families are affected, DC, Kullu, who reached Samej (Kullu side), said.

Government primary and secondary schools where about 100 students were studying have been damaged and arrangements are being made to run the school at another location, she added.

Due to flash floods triggered by cloudburst, the water in Samej Khud in Shimla district’s Rampur rose, leaving two people dead and over 30 missing, Shimla Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi had told PTI.

Mutilated body parts of two persons were recovered on Thursday, he added.

“We have to search in about a 100-km area, some of which is inaccessible, and drones are being used to locate the missing people,” Gandhi had told PTI on Thursday.

According to reports, over 20 houses, six shops, four main and two foot bridges were washed after the cloudburst in the state and road connectivity has been hampered in the affected areas.

So far since the onset of monsoon on June 27, 73 people have died in rain-related incidents and the state has also suffered losses to the tune of Rs 649 crore, according to the state’s Emergency Operation Centre. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Manali:

Three days after an American citizen went missing, his body was recovered in a ravine between Kee and Tashigang in Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul and Spiti district on Sunday, police said.

Trevor Bokstaahlar (31) went missing on Thursday during his visit to the Spiti Valley, following which a search team was constituted, they said.

According to the police, the team conducted searches at various areas of Kaza and recovered a motorcycle rented by the american citizen near a deserted area close to Tashigang, but no further clues were found.

A day later, with the assistance of the Dogra Regiment of the Army, a drone on Friday identified a parachute stuck in a deep ravine between Kee and Tashigang, they said.

The police suspected the parachute belonged to Trevor, who was a base jumper, Superintendent of Police (SP) Lahaul and Spiti, Mayank Chaudhary said. Consequently, teams from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), trained in such rescue operations and adverse conditions, were deployed and Trevor’s body was brought down, SP Chaudhary said.

Prima facie, it appears to be an accident, the police said.

The information has been shared with the American Embassy and we are in constant contact with them, the SP said, adding that the body would be handed over to them after the formalities are completed.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Shimla:

In a crackdown against timber and fuel wood smuggling in the state, the Himachal Pradesh government Tuesday banned the felling of mango and five other tree species with immediate effect.

A ban has been imposed on the felling of Mango, Triyambal (Ficus species), Toon (Toona ciliata), Padam or Pajja (Prunus cerasus), Ritha (Sapindus mukorossi) and Baan (Quercus leucotrichophora), a statement issued here said.

Announcing the ban, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said there would be a total ban on the export of timber and fuel wood of these six species out of the state.

The move is aimed at curbing illegal trade and preserving the region’s valuable resources, he said.

Chief Minister Sukhu added that under the new regulations, all these six species have been brought under the ten-year felling programme, which mandates that these trees need to survive for at least ten years before they are axed.

Any tree belonging to one of these species can be axed only after permission from the forest department, Mr Sukhu said.

The felling of a maximum of five trees in a year will be allowed for domestic purposes, the statement said.

A revised list of permissible tree species has been notified, allowing only thirteen species to be felled with prior intimation to the Range officer, while felling of other species will also require forest clearances, the statement said.

This step will not only safeguard indigenous species but also play a pivotal role in wildlife preservation, the chief minister said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)