Lagatar24 Desk
Himachal Pradesh, June 26: Severe rains in Himachal Pradesh resulted in landslides and flash floods in a number of locations, killing six people and injuring about ten more, according to government estimates.
Onkar Chand Sharma, Principal Secretary, Disaster Management, Himachal Pradesh today said, “Six people have died till now and around 10 people are injured. A total of 303 animals have died. The complete report is still awaited.”
“The loss due to rain is expected to be Rs 3 crore. Meanwhile, 124 roads have been damaged which includes two national highways,” the senior Disaster Management official said.
At 7 Mile in Mandi, there were significant traffic backups on the Chandigarh-Manali route. Aerial views revealed that farther ahead; traffic was moving slowly or not at all.
The Mandi-Kullu National Highway (NH) was stopped by the Mandi police on Sunday due to the terrible weather and nonstop rain. On Sunday, the local police also shut the Mandi-Joginder Nagar Highway’s other route.
“We are trying our best to open the road within three hours. People who are facing problems are being sent by other buses” Sakini Kapoor, SHO, Mandi.
Over 200 people, including tourists and locals, were left trapped as a flash flood struck the Bagipul area in the Mandi district of the State, according to authorities on Sunday.
People are being relocated to safer areas in the area, according to Sanjeev Sood, Deputy Superintendant of Police, Mandi District Police.
Onkar Chand Sharma claims that the administration met with the duty commissioners and line departments on 21 June to talk about preparations for the monsoon.
There were representatives from the Central Water Commission (CWC), the Civil Defence, the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the National Disaster Response Force, the State Disaster Response Force, the National Disaster Response Force and the Central Disaster Response Force present at the meeting.
“The state has been receiving monsoon rains for the past 3 days. We have been getting updates of heavy rain, flash floods and landslides from various parts of the state,” Onkar Chand Sharma said.
“A total of 151 DTR services has been disrupted. Six water supply schemes have also been affected. We have reports of one fire incident so far,” the official said.
Sharma stated that efforts are being made to rescue individuals trapped in the challenging catastrophe conditions and he asked people to heed the state’s instructions and warnings.
“Several tourists have been rescued with the help of the locals. We request all tourists coming here follow all the guidelines issued by the state government and Disaster Management,” he said.
A state-wide alert, according to the official, will remain in effect for an additional 24 hours.
“We should be prepared for these incidents throughout the monsoon season, this is just the onset. The people are alerted through IMD and District administration. We also encourage people to download the SACHET app through which they will be notified of local as well as national disaster alerts,” the official said.
The authorities will continue to be on the lookout for reports of any further damages or disasters, he stressed, and restoration efforts will continue.
“The restoration work is consistently going on. As rainfall reduces, the 124 roads will be restored. However, since heavy rainfall will persist, we are also on alert for more damage to the roads and water supplies, so that we can begin restoring them immediately,” he added.
