Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 20: At least 10 people have been killed and another over 20 reported “missing” in flash floods caused by heavy rains and cloudbursts in the Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on Saturday.
Six people were killed and 13 others were feared dead in separate incidents of flash flood and landslide triggered by heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh, officials said on August 20.
In Uttarakhand, a series of cloudbursts hit different parts of the state early on Saturday killing four people while 10 went missing as rivers breached their banks and washed away bridges, officials said. Torrential rains damaged two houses in Gwad village in Tehri district trapping seven people under the debris. Two bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, Tehri District Magistrate Saurabh Gaharwar said while in the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh 22 people stranded in flash floods in Hamirpur district were evacuated, the official said.
The train services between Jogindernagar and Pathankot route have been suspended after the Chakki bridge in Kangra district, which the railway authorities had earlier declared as “unsafe”, collapsed on Saturday morning due to heavy rains.
Officials said two pillars of the Kangra valley Chakki river rail bridge was also washed away due to a flash flood. The Pathankot -Mandi National Highway has been closed for traffic following landslides at different places.
Several roads in Mandi district have also been blocked following flash flood and multiple landslides. Several vehicles were damaged and a number of villagers were stuck in their houses as water entered their houses and shops at Balh, Sadar, Thunag, Mandi and Lamathach, officials said.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur expressed condolences over the deaths and said administration was carrying out rescue operations on war-footing in the affected districts. According to officials, three people were killed after their house collapsed following a landslide triggered by rains in Chamba district.
The Chamba district emergency operation centre (DEOC) said the landslide occurred at Banet village in Chowari tehsil around 4.30 a.m. following which a house collapsed, killing three people. In Mandi, a girl was killed and 13 others were feared dead in a landslide and flash flood triggered by heavy rains, officials said. The body of a girl was recovered in Baghi Nullah on Mandi-Katola-Prashar road while five members of her family were washed away.
Several families left their houses located between Baghi and Old Katola areas after a cloud burst and took shelter at safe places. Besides, eight members of another family are also feared buried under the debris of their house following a landslide at Kashan village in Gohar development block, the HP disaster management officials said.
Schools in many parts of Himachal Pradesh remained closed on Saturday due to ongoing incessant rains, a senior administration official said. Several vehicles parked along the road were damaged and residents remained stuck inside their houses, they said.
Himachal Pradesh’s disaster management department has issued a warning for landslide due to heavy rains predicted in the State till August 25. Precipitation is likely to increase during the next 24 hours for the subsequent three-four days with spells of heavy rainfall in parts of Kangra, Chamba, Mandi, Kullu, Shimla, Sirmaur, Solan, Hamirpur, Una and Bilaspur districts, State Disaster Management Department Director Sudesh Kumar Mokhta said.
Mokhta has asked district emergency operations centres (DEOCs) to take adequate safety measures as landslides, flash floods, cloudbursts, rock-slides, sudden increase in water level in rivers, poor visibility and disruption of essential services may occur during the period.
The Kangra district administration has issued an advisory, asking tourists and people to not go near rivers and streams after the India Meteorological Department predicted moderate to heavy rainfall till August 28.
Similar situation prevailed in the neighbouring Uttarakhand where the Rishikesh-Badrinath highway was blocked at Totaghati, the Rishikesh-Gangotri highway blocked at Nagni and the Narendranagar-Ranipokhri road was blocked at several points, officials said.
In Kothar village, an elderly woman suffocated to death after getting trapped underneath rubble brought in by the rains, he said. In Binak village of Pauri district, a house collapsed burying 70-year-old Darshani Devi alive. Her body was recovered by villagers, the disaster control room said. Excessive rains have affected around 13 villages in the Pauri district prompting the administration to close all Anganwadi centres and schools.
Water also entered the caves of Tapkeshwar, a famous Shiva temple on the banks of the Tons river, which was in spate, officials said. A cloudburst occurred around 2.15 am in Sarkhet village in the Raipur area, they said, adding a bridge over the Song river near Thano got washed away while the Kempty Falls, a popular tourist spot near Mussoorie, was also flowing dangerously.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the affected areas near Thano and instructed officials to make arrangements for restoring vehicular movement. “The administration is fully alert. Disaster relief teams are already at work in the affected areas. The Army’s help may also be taken if needed,” Dhami said.
Mud entered homes in over a dozen villages following the cloudburst, prompting the State Disaster Response Force to shift the affected people to safe locations. The affected villages include Maldevta, Bhutsi, Tauliyakatal, Thatyud, Lavarkha, Ringalgadh, Dhuttu, Ragad Gaon and Sarkhet, according to the officials.
The affected people have been shifted to schools and panchayat buildings, said Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Dhanolti, Lakshmi Raj Chauhan, adding the Raipur-Kumalda road has been blocked by debris at many places.
