The number of people killed in Wednesday’s devastating flash floods in Himachal has reached six after three bodies from Mandi district, two from Shimla district and one from Kullu district have been recovered by rescue teams .
At least fifty people are reported missing from different spots of flash floods, many houses, bridges, roads have been washed away or damaged at many places in the state.
The state emergency operation centre said, “The cloudbursts took place in Nirmand, Sainj and Malana areas in Kullu, Padhar in Mandi and Rampur in Shimla districts”.
The local Meteorological office has issued a “red alert” of heavy to extremely heavy rains along with thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places in three districts of Kangra, Kullu and Mandi on Thursday.
A cloudburst near Shrikhand Mahadev on Wednesday night triggered flash floods in Samej , Ganvi and Kurpan nallahs, and as a result two people were killed in Rampur subdivision of the Shimla district and about 30 people are still missing”, Shimla SP Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi said .
DC Shimla Anupam Kashyap said , “Four people have been rescued from the spot. The rescue operation is challenging as roads have been washed away”.
The cloud burst in Bharati Nallah at Sinhgad has created havoc in Baghipul area in Nirmand block of Kullu district, as seven people have been reported missing from Baghipul area of Kullu district after the cloudburst .
DC Kullu Torul S Raveesh said, “Four people have been rescued from potato ground near Manali, few people are stuck in the Malana I hydropower project and NDRF teams are making efforts to rescue them.”
“ The flash floods in Kullu district have caused extensive damage; several houses, bridges and roads were washed away at many places , Chandigarh- Manali National Highway have been damaged at several places beyond Mandi”, she added .
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and took stock of the situation. and assured him all help from the Centre.
CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu after an emergency meeting at Shimla said, “Massive damage has been caused in Shimla, Kullu and Mandi districts since Wednesday night and about 50 persons are missing, road connection to Manali has been cut off; the state government has set up 13 emergency centers for disaster monitoring and all efforts are being made to provide relief to affected families, rescue trapped people and restore normalcy.”
( With inputs from PTI )
