Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government has declared the whole state as “natural calamity affected area.” Heavy rains have lashed the hill state since Sunday, triggering landslides and cloudburst incidents in multiple districts including Shimla. The death toll in rain-battered Himachal Pradesh has risen to 75 and 22 of these deaths were in the three major landslides in Shimla alone. “Keeping in view the unprecedented grave situation leading loss of human life and damage, destruction and loss 0f public infrastructure and private property, the state government. has decided to declare the whole State of Himachal Pradesh as “natural calamity affected area”,” the government said.
“The state of Himachal Pradesh has witnessed unprecedented loss of human lives and huge destruction, damage and loss to public and private property during the ongoing monsoon season. The entire state has been badly ravaged by incessant rain leading to floods, cloudbursts, landslides, and slope failure taking heavy toll of lives and property. Thousands of dwelling units have been damaged or destroyed,” it added.
Since the onset of the monsoon on June 24, 217 persons have died in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh and 11,301 houses have been partially or completely damaged, according to the state emergency operation centre. A total of 506 roads are still closed in the state and 408 transformers and 149 water supply schemes have been disrupted. In the last few days, thousands have been evacuated from flooded areas.
Talking to PTI, the chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhusaid rescue operations are going on in full swing and the state government is making efforts to help the affected families especially those whose houses have been damaged in the flash floods and landslides with its own resources. “Central teams have inspected the affected areas for loss assessment and we need timely help from the Centre,” Sukhu said, adding the state has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 10,000 crore.
Yellow warning for heavy rains in 10 Himachal districts
The local meteorological station on Friday issued a yellow warning for heavy rains, thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places in 10 districts of Himachal Pradesh on August 21 and 22 even as the monsoon activity remained subdued in the state.
Light to moderate precipitation is likely to continue at a few places in lower and mid hills during the next 48 hours. The rainfall activity is likely to increase in distribution and intensity from August 21 with precipitation in many parts of the state till August 24, the MeT office said in a release.
“Flash Floods along watershed and other channels in district of Kangra, Chamba, Shimla, Mandi, Kullu, Sirmaur, Solan, and tribal districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul Spiti besides localised flooding of roads, landslides in vulnerable areas, occasional reduction in visibility due to heavy rainfall and fog and disruptions of essential services like water, electricity and communications is also possible,” the release issued here said.
Meanwhile, scattered rains occurred at a few places and Nagrota Surian was the wettest in the state with 50 mm rains, followed by Kasauli (40 mm), Kahu (20 mm), Solan (11 mm), Guler, Ghamroor, Palampur, Sujanpur, Bilaspur Sadar and Renuka (10 mm each).
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