Himachal: 5 die in landslides; educational institutions closed in 9 districts on Tuesday

Shimla, Sep 1 (PTI) Five people, including a 35-year-old man and his daughter, were killed in the past 24 hours in separate incidents of landslides in Himachal Pradesh as heavy rain pounded several places in the state disrupting normal life, officials said on Monday.

Educational institutions will be closed in nine districts of Shimla, Kangra, Sirmaur, Una, Bilaspur, Chamba, Hamirpur, Solan, and Lahaul and Spiti on Tuesday in view of warning of heavy rains.

Besides, such institutions in Banjar, Kullu and Manali sub-divisions of Kullu district will also remain shut on Tuesday, the officials said.

State capital Shimla which recorded 122.8 mm of rain since Sunday evening was the worst hit.

Six trains plying on the Shimla-Kalka track were cancelled on Monday following landslips, while a total of 1,281 roads, including four national highways, are closed in the state.

The local Met office issued a red alert, warning of extremely heavy rain in isolated areas in six districts on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday informed the state assembly that with the recovery of four more bodies from Kugti between Hadsar and Manimahesh Lake, the number of devotees killed during the Manimahesh Yatra since its start on August 15 has risen to 16.

Hadsar is the place in Bharmaur area of Chamba district from where the pilgrimage to Manimahesh starts. About 20 porters have been arranged to bring back four bodies recovered in Kugti village located at an altitude of 8,500 feet, said Sukhu.

Out of 15,000 pilgrims stranded on the route, 10,000 have been safely evacuated, he added.

A landslide overnight killed Virender Kumar and his ten-year-old daughter in the Dubloo area of Junga on the outskirts of Shimla town, the officials said, adding that Virender's wife, who was outside the house, survived.

In another incident, an elderly woman was buried early on Monday after her house in Chol village of Shimla's Kotkhai area collapsed on her. She was identified as Kalawati, and her body was retrieved from the debris.

A 23-year-old woman, yet to be identified, died in another landslide in Badhal village of Jubbal in Shimla, the officials said.

Another house collapsed in the Chauras area of Sirmaur, killing a 37-year-old woman identified as Sheela Devi (37) along with eight cattle.

There were four family members inside the house, including Sheela's husband and two children, when the landslide struck, they said.

Noticing unusual activity, the husband and kids rushed out of the house but Sheela was hit by the crumbling house while leaving, Ram Bhaj, a local, told PTI.

Chief Minister Sukhu and Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri have expressed grief over the loss of five lives due to torrential rains in the past 24 hours.

About 50 residents were moved to safer places as Giri river posed danger to Bangran village in Paonta area, said Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Gunjit Singh Cheema.

An incident of cloudburst has been reported in Tatiana village under Kafota subdivision of Sirmaur district, about 90 km from district headquarters Nahan.

Ramlal, a local resident, told PTI that the incident took place in early hours on Monday at Chiali in Tatiana village in which nobody was injured.

Tons, Yamuna, Bata, Markanda and Giri rivers, flowing through Sirmaur district, are in spate and their water levels, already touching the danger mark, are continuously rising. Along with this, dozens of ravines, nullahs, and rivulets flowing in Sirmaur district are also flooding.

Shimla Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap on Monday evening ordered closure of all government and private educational institutes, including schools, colleges, anganwadi centres, ITIs, polytechnics, coaching centres and nursing institutes throughout the district on Tuesday (September 2) under the Disaster Management Act.

Similar orders have also been issued in other 10 districts in view of inclement weather, the officials said.

The state capital has been experiencing continuous rainfall for the past few days. The heavy downpour has resulted in landslides, falling of trees and subsequent road closure.

Ten people of four families were evacuated in Dyal Mori village of Rohru area of Shimla district late Sunday night following a landslide.

A rise in the level of the Shikdi rivulet has caused panic among people living near it.

"Four families were residing in three houses. The landslide completely buried two cowsheds and endangered adjoining houses," Rohru SDM Ramesh Dhamotra said.

After the rescue, families of Kuldeep, Sandeep, Pradeep, and Sonfu Ram were housed elsewhere in the same village, he said.

A wall of Shimla's Portmore Government Model School collapsed. No casualty was reported in the incident.

A tree was on the verge of being uprooted and loomed precariously above a transformer, a residential building, and staff quarters of Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited, the officials said.

Landslides in different parts of the state capital led to outages and disruption in water supply.

The water supply would continue to be hit in the coming days due to high turbidity.

Landslides happened at multiple locations in Solan district and hit railway operations.

According to the Railways, train numbers 52451, 52453, and 52459 scheduled to depart from Kalka to Shimla, and 52452, 52454 and 52460 from Shimla to Kalka were cancelled.

The train service will not resume until the track is cleared and declared safe for operations, an official said.

The Chandigarh-Manali National Highway was blocked after a huge mountain slide near Mansar on Monday morning.

"Educational institutions were closed in most parts of Shimla district on Monday," Education Minister Rohit Thakur said.

Thakur, who is also the local MLA from Jubbal-Kotkhai, the heart of the apple belt, said about 1.30 crore of apple boxes (50 per cent of the apple produce) have been transported to the markets.

Light snowfall happened in Sarchu and Chandertal of Lahaul and Spiti district, leading authorities to issue a cautionary advisory to commuters.

Since Sunday evening, heavy to extremely heavy rains have lashed several parts of the state.

Nangal Dam received 220 mm of rain, the highest, followed by Raipur Maidan 215 mm, Naina Devi 192 mm, Solan 195.8 mm, Nahan 186 mm, Jatton Barrage 170 mm, and Kasauli 135 mm.

Una received 147.4 mm of rain Dadahu 134 mm, Malraon 132 mm, Rohru 130 mm, Dharampur 124.6 mm, Shimla 122.8 mm, Paonta Sahib 109.6 mm, Kandaghat 108.2 mm, Jubbarhatti 118 mm, and Berthin 102 mm of it.

A total of 1,281 roads, including NH 3 (Mandi-Dharampur road), NH 305 (Aut-Sainj), NH 5 (Old Hindustan-Tibet road) and NH 707 (Hatkoti to Poanta) were blocked in the state, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said.

A maximum of 267 roads are closed in the capital district Shimla, 257 in Mandi, 239 in Chamba, 168 in Kullu and 126 in Sirmaur district.

As many as 3,207 power transformers and 790 water supply schemes were disrupted across the state on Monday, according to the SEOC.

Since the onset of monsoon in Himachal on June 20, the state has witnessed 95 flash floods, 45 cloudbursts and 115 major landslide incidents.

In all, 326 people have died in rain-related incidents and road accidents while 41 are missing, SEOC data showed.

The state has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 3,158 crore this monsoon so far, according to official data. PTI BPL KVK KVK