Himachal Pradesh: Cloudburst in Kullu kills one, four missing
New Delhi: One person died as four went missing after a cloudburst was triggered by heavy rains and flash floods in the Manikaran region of Kullu district in Himachal Pradesh.
Sub-divisional Magistrate Vikas Shukla of Kullu said that the administration began search and rescue operations after receiving information on the cloudburst.
The cloudburst led to significant increase in the water levels of Malana region and a damaged bridge across the Paravti River. Though officials successfully retrieved a woman’s body, the four people who went missing near the Chojh village were untraceable.
Shukla said, “Officials and rescue teams have been monitoring the situation on the ground. Around 25 employees of a power plant in Malana were trapped due to high water levels and were rescued by state disaster management teams. By afternoon, the roads had been cleared and normal movement resumed.”
The deceased, identified as Saju Devi, was a resident of Malana. Her body was found trapped under a boulder that experienced gushing water at high speed. Meanwhile, the four men were identified as Rohit, Kapil, Rahul Chaudhary and Arjun.
Though rescue teams are scanning several sections of the area to locate the missing persons, officials said that it is unlikely that they survived the flood. Informing about high water discharge in all water sources of the Manikaran valley, officials said that authorities stationed at Larji, Pandoh, and Bilaspur areas issued red alerts throughout the day.
The team is accessing other damages due to rainfall including three camping sites, a six-room apartment, a guest house, and cattle drowning in the flash floods.
(Avya Mathur)
