HP: Thousands of pilgrims stranded in Chamba as heavy rains, flash floods damage roads

Shimla, Aug 27 (PTI) Thousands of devotees undertaking the Manimahesh Yatra, which was suspended on Monday in the wake of heavy rains, are stranded in many places in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba, local MLAs said.

The Manimahesh Yatra starts on August 17 and concludes on September 15. According to Chamba MLA Neeraj Nayyar, the pilgrims are stuck in Chamba, Bharmaur, Saloni and other parts of the district due to rain-damaged roads. Hans Raj, the MLA of Churah, put the number of pilgrims at around 10,000.

In a statement, Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena said on Wednesday evening that all the people stranded on the Manimahesh track have been evacuated and relief and restoration works in the disaster-affected areas were going on a war footing so that normalcy could be restored as soon as possible.

The National Disaster Response Force has so far rescued 3,269 pilgrims stranded due to flash floods in Chamba, officials said.

However, the MLAs said that relatives and friends of devotees who have taken shelter in many villages along the route are worried about their safety as mobile connectivity has been snapped in a majority of the Chamba district following heavy rain over the past few days.

"We are receiving calls from various states about the safety of pilgrims," Bharmaur MLA Janak Raj told PTI.

"I have spoken to the heads of mobile companies who have assured that the services will be resumed by Wednesday," he said.

The Chamba-Bharmour-Hadsar route to Manimahesh Lake is the common and established route, which requires a 13 km trek from Hadsar to Manimahesh with a night halt at Dhancho. There are other routes to Manimahesh from Lahaul-Spiti and Kangra and Mandi districts.

The priority of the Himachal Pradesh government is to safely evacuate the pilgrims stranded en route to Manimahesh and restore mobile services in Chamba district, Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi told the Assembly on Wednesday.

Heavy rains, landslides, flash floods and cloudbursts on Tuesday wreaked havoc in parts of Himachal and the overflowing Beas River left a trail of destruction in Manali while mobile connectivity was snapped in the majority of Chamba district and Manali, reports reaching here said.

"Shops were washed away, buildings collapsed, highways were cut off, and damage was caused to agricultural lands," said Avtar Chand, a local in Manali.

Parts of Manali were without electricity. The Chandigarh-Manali National Highway was blocked at several places and the commuters had a harrowing time as they were stranded for hours.

Ashok Chauhan, Regional Engineer Kullu-Manali (National Highway Authority of India), said that the key road has been damaged at many places between Manali and Kullu due to heavy currents of the Beas River and restoration work is going on.

"Houses have been damaged in the Ramsheela area near Kullu town and the administration should take remedial measures. Otherwise, the place would become a history in the coming monsoons," said a resident of Kullu, Jai Bhal.

"Connectivity to Manali from the right bank has been disrupted. So far, four shops, two restaurants and one house have been damaged since Monday," said Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) Manali Raman Sharma.

On Wednesday, a house in Manjhed village in Naina Devi assembly constituency of Bilaspur district collapsed following rains. However, no casualty was reported as the family had left the house before the collapse.

Chamba received 51 mm of rain since Tuesday evening, followed by Dharamshala 40.4 mm, Jot 38 mm, Naina Devi 26.8 mm, Palampur 22.4 mm, Kangra 21.6 mm, Bilaspur 20.4 mm and Amb 20 mm.

A total of 584 roads were closed in ten out of 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh and reports from Chamba and Lahaul and Spiti districts have not been received, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said.

Of the roads closed, 259 are in Mandi district and 167 in Kullu. Around 1155 power supply transformers and 346 water supply schemes were disrupted, the SEOC said.

The local meteorological office has issued a yellow alert for heavy rains in isolated areas in three to six districts of the state till Sunday.

Between June 20 and August 26, at least 158 people have died in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh, while 38 have gone missing, according to the SEOC.

The state has witnessed 90 flash floods, 42 cloudbursts and 85 major landslides so far. It has incurred losses to the tune of Rs 2,623 crore in rain-related incidents, the SEOC data showed. PTI BPL RT APL RT RT