Himachal rain fury: Landslide in Kullu leaves 1 dead; 6 buried

Shimla, Sep 4 (PTI) Two houses collapsed in a landslide in Kullu district on Thursday, leaving one dead and six buried under the rubble, officials said.

The incident occurred in the Akhada Bazaar area around 6 am.

A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescued three people and recovered one body.

"Three persons were rescued and shifted to a hospital, while a search is underway for six more buried under the debris," Assistant Commandant, NDRF, Santosh said.

"We were already engaged in a nearby site and rushed to the spot in 10 minutes and rescued three people on time," he added.

On Tuesday night, two people, including an NDRF jawan, were killed as two houses collapsed in the same area, and a search operation was on to rescue those buried.

Incessant rain over the past three days has triggered landslides at several places, Kullu Deputy Commissioner Torul S Ravish said. Radhika Sankhyan, one of the injured pulled out by the NDRF team, said she was making tea in her kitchen when a landslide hit her house.

"I was buried under the utensils and rubble. The door of the kitchen also fell," she said.

Officials said a road near Shayothal village caved in, obstructing vehicular traffic on the Shamti bypass on the outskirts of Solan city.

Public Works Department executive engineer Ravi Kapoor said the road was shut as it developed cracks.

Five families were shifted to a community centre following the threat of landslides in the Krishna Nagar area of Shimla city, while endangered houses were vacated in Ramchandra Chowk, officials said.

Inclement weather has forced the authorities to shut all government and private colleges, schools, anganwadis, and coaching centres till September 7.

At least 35 ailing and elderly devotees were airlifted to Chamba by a small helicopter in seven sorties on Thursday.

Nearly 500 devotees from Bharmour to Chamba were ferried in vehicles, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said in a statement.

On certain stretches, where roads were damaged, security forces have been deployed to help the stranded, he said.

Thousands of Manimahesh pilgrims have been stranded in Chamba district, especially in Bharmaur, which has been cut off from roads following several landslides and flash floods since the last week of August.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) informed him that about 6,647 pilgrims had been transported to Pathankot and Kangra on 153 buses.

A total of 1,212 roads are closed in the state, of which 289 were blocked in Mandi, 231 in Kullu, 211 in Shimla, 192 in Chamba district, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said.

National Highway-3 (Mandi-Dharampur road), NH-5 (Old Hindustan-Tibet road), NH-305 (Aut-Sainj road) and NH-505 (Khab to Gramphu) were closed.

Rain has disrupted 1,885 power transformers and 824 water supply schemes across the state, the SEOC said on Thursday evening.

Trains plying on the Shimla-Kalka track have been cancelled till Friday following landslips on the track.

Dharampur has received 74.6 mm of rain since Wednesday evening, followed by Bhuntar, which got 70.6 mm, Karsog, 69 mm, Kasauli, 67 mm, Jubbarhatti, 61.2 mm, Kandaghat, 59 mm, Naina Devi, 58.6 mm, Manali, 55 mm, and Bilaspur, 50.8 mm.

Shimla received 48 mm of rain, Sarahan, 47 mm, Kufri, 45.6 mm, Kahu, 45 mm, Solan, 44.4 mm, Narkanda, 44 mm, and Rohru, 40 mm.

Thunderstorms were witnessed in Shimla, while gusty winds blowing at 33 to 41 kmph struck Hamirpur, Neri, Tabo, and Kukumseri.

The local Met office has issued a yellow alert of thunderstorm and lightning in isolated places in Kangra, Mandi, Shimla, Solan, and Sirmaur on Friday.

Since the onset of monsoon in Himachal on June 20, the state has witnessed 95 flash floods, 45 cloudbursts, and 130 major landslides.

At least 355 people have died in rain-related incidents and road accidents, while 49 are missing since the monsoon began.

The state has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 3,787 crore this monsoon so far, according to official data. PTI BPL VN VN