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Panel formed to probe causes behind Una floods
Will submit report within 10 days after probing all aspects, including the reasons for the flood taking severe form
After the recent flashfloods wreaked havoc in Una district’s Bathu-Bathri, an inter-departmental committee has been constituted to find out its causes and submit a report within ten 10 days.
Una deputy commissioner (DC) Jatin Lal said the committee will investigate the circumstances arising out of the severe flood in Bathu-Bathdi of Haroli on August 11 and will submit its report after thoroughly analysing all the aspects including the reasons for the flood taking a severe form due to obstruction in Khad.
On August 11, the floods caused widespread devastation in Bathu-Bathri village in Haroli tehsil, leading to three deaths, including a seven-year-old migrant girl from Bihar.
The industrial units in the Bathu-Bathri industrial area were severely damaged, resulting in an estimated damage of around ₹80-100 crore. Loss of machinery and material was also reported at Bathu Bathri Industrial Area khad, after water entered in industrial units following flash floods. A petrol pump at Bathu-Bathri on Garhshankar Road near the bridge was washed away.
Formed under the chairmanship of ADC Una Mahendra Pal Gurjar, the committee comprises SDM Haroli, industries joint director, Haroli BDO and mining officer as members.
Deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri, during his visit to the flood-affected area on August 12, had asked the district administration to form an inter-departmental committee and submit a report after finding out the reasons for the severity of the flood so that corrective steps can be taken so that such accidents do not recur in future.
Notably, the inter-departmental committee had visited the flood-affected areas recently and conducted a detailed study.
Alternative route to be prepared for Boileauganj: Vikramaditya
Public works and urban development minister Vikramaditya Singh on Thursday inspected the landslide-hit road near the MLA crossing at Shimla’s Boileauganj crossing.
He said the road to Boileauganj has been buried under debris due to the landslide near MLA crossing. “For the short term, an alternative route will be prepared for Boileauganj within 15 days so that people can commute easily,” he said.
The minister added that in the long term, a solution will be ensured by treating this area scientifically. A proper DPR is being prepared by the departmental officials for this road.
Vikramaditya said a long-term solution will be found to repair the Chaura Maidan Boileauganj road from the Vidhan Sabha. The problem of water drainage in this road has also come to the fore and necessary work will be done in that regard as well.
He said many bridges are getting damaged in the entire state due to the rains, adding, “Additional valley bridges will be purchased by the Public Works Department and an amount of ₹15 crore will be spent on this.”
IMD sounds yellow alert from Aug 25-28
The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD), meanwhile, has not sounded any alert for Friday and Saturday in the Himachal. Several districts of the state, however, will remain under yellow alert of heavy rain from August 25.
The yellow alert has been sounded till August 28. On August 25, a yellow alert was issued for Bilaspur, Kangra, Mandi, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur districts of the state. During the last 24 hours, light rain occurred at isolated places over the state with no large change in minimum and maximum temperatures.
From August 23 to 29, IMD has predicted light to moderate rainfall over some parts of the state with isolated heavy rainfall over lower and mid hills mainly in the district of Sirmaur, Solan, Shimla and adjoining districts during end of the week. “Rainfall anomaly is very likely to be normal to moderately negative over most parts of the state during this period,” IMD officials said.
However, from August 30 to September 5, IMD officials said that light to moderate rainfall is likely over many parts of the state with isolated heavy rainfall over lower and mid hills mainly in the district of Chamba, Kangra, Una, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Mandi, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur.
