Former Himachal CM Jai Ram apprises PM of damage caused by cloudbursts, floods

Shimla, Aug 2 (PTI) Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur Friday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and apprised him of the damage caused by cloudbursts and floods in Shimla, Kullu and Mandi districts.

The PM assured all possible help to the state and asked party workers to fully engage themselves in relief work, the BJP leader said in a statement issued here.

Thakur said that besides the prime minister, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda have also spoken to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and assured all help to the state.

Meanwhile, state BJP president Rajiv Bindal, who has constituted a team to visit the flood-affected areas, reached Rampur with his team and met the affected people.

He said the team would also visit the affected areas in Kullu and Mandi.

Rescuers deployed drones in a massive effort to trace about 45 people still missing in flash floods in three Himachal Pradesh districts as the death toll rose to eight, officials said on Friday.

Two bodies were found in Mandi's Rajban village and one from Kullu’s Nirmand after three cloudbursts in three districts -- Kullu, Mandi and Shimla -- on Wednesday night triggered the flash floods.

Around 300 people stranded around Shrikhand Mahadev in Kullu were safe and about 25 tourists at Malana are being looked after well by the locals, Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena said. PTI BPL TIR TIR