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Himachal monsoon mayhem: Flash flood toll 8 as body of 14-year-old girl recovered
The body of the deceased, identified as Murti Devi (14), was recovered near the river side in Bakshahal village. The locals spotted the body in the river and informed the police.
Body of one of the three missing persons who were swept away in flash floods caused by cloud burst at Jeeva Nallah in Sainj area of Himachal’s Kullu district on Wednesday was recovered, officials said on Saturday.
The body of the deceased, identified as Murti Devi (14), was recovered near the river side in Bakshahal village. The locals spotted the body in the river and informed the police.
Three people including Nand Lal, his daughter and sister were washed away in the deluge while trying to take away valuables from their homes at Rehla Bihal in Kullu district on Wednesday.
With recovery of two more bodies on Saturday, the death toll in Wednesday’s cloud bursts and flash floods incidents in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu and Kangra district has gone up to eight.
Earlier six bodies were found in a hydro-project site near the Manuni Khad area in Khaniyara village of Kangra district. The project work was suspended due to rain and the workers were resting in temporary shelters near the site when floodwaters from Manuni Khad and nearby drains rushed towards them, sweeping several of them away, the officials said.
The deceased were identified as Chain Singh, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, Aditya Thakur from Chamba, Nitin and Sanjay both from Nurpur, Pardeep Verma and Chandan from Uttar Pradesh, said Kangra SP Shalini Agnihotri.
There were 13 labourers at a camp, five of whom ran towards the hills while the rest were swept away by the gushing waters, said Lovely from Chamba district, who was rescued by the search teams from a forest area near the project.
Despite bad weather, joint search-and-rescue operations undertaken by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), police and home guards are underway to find four missing persons (two each in Kangra and Kullu districts), officials said.
Meanwhile, the Met department has issued an orange warning of heavy to very heavy rains at isolated areas in the state on Sunday and Monday and also cautioned of Moderate to high risk of flash floods in parts of Solan, Kangra, Mandi and Sirmaur districts till Sunday.
17 lost lives in rain related incidents
Rain related incidents have claimed 17 lives in Himachal Pradesh in the past nine days since the onset of monsoon in the state on June 20.
As per the state emergency operation centre, in a statement issued on Saturday, out of the 17 killed — seven were killed in flash floods while four drowned, two each were electrocuted or fell from height while one person each died of snake bite and other reasons.
Around 37 roads are still blocked, and nearly 47 distribution transformers (DTRs) were damaged, affecting the electricity supply. However, no National Highway is currently closed, and restoration work is actively underway, said an official of the state emergency operation centre.
Revenue, horticulture, and tribal development minister Jagat Singh Negi, while talking to media after cabinet meeting said on Saturday, said that 17 people have lost their lives so far due to rain-related incidents across the state, with flash floods reported particularly in parts of Kullu and Dharamshala in last eight days.
“This time, the monsoon arrived very early. The flash floods, especially in Kullu and Dharamshala areas, have caused sudden devastation. 17 people have died across districts due to rain-related incidents and the loss incurred is estimated to be 300 crore so far,” said Negi.
He added that the heavy rains that have lashed the state in the last eight days have severely disrupted road connectivity, electricity lines, and water supply schemes in several parts of the state.
