E-Paper
Himachal landslides: ‘250 routes have been cleared… to be operational soon’
Several districts of Himachal Pradesh witnessed heavy rainfall in the past few days.
Monsoon season is wreaking havoc across the northern parts of the country with Himachal tourists finding themselves trapped in hills due to landslides and floods. Speaking to news agency ANI, Managing Director of Himachal Pradesh Road and Transport Corporation Rohan Chand Thakur said that the overall situation in the state has improved in the last 24 hours. Thakur said, “We have about 3,700 total routes. If we talk about today, the operation of around 1,200 routes is suspended. The majority of them are in the Kullu district...rest are from Mandi, upper Shimla, and tribal areas. The good thing is, in the past 24 hours around 250 routes have been cleared... by today, we are expecting around 200-250 routes to be operational.”
"Till yesterday, around 615 buses have been stuck in landslide-prone areas. However today, the 316 buses are stuck...The overall situation has improved in the last 24 hours," he added.
READ | People asked to stay indoors as Himachal breaks 50-year rainfall record; 14 dead
Thakur's comments came a day after the Himachal administration said that the stranded tourists were being evacuated from flood-hit regions and that the state is slowly returning to normalcy. Principal Secretary (Revenue and Disaster Management), Onkar Chand Sharma said earlier, “The situation is slowly returning to normal. Phone connectivity and internet connectivity have been restored in various parts of the state. The electricity situation has also improved. Various link roads have been opened.”
Meanwhile speaking about the evacuation process CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Wednesday, "We have successfully evacuated over 50,000 tourists from Himachal Pradesh in the last 48 hours... I would like to thank our administration and staff across various departments, who are working tirelessly and round the clock to restore our roads, power, water supply, and network connectivity."
Several districts of Himachal Pradesh witnessed heavy rainfall in the past few days. The rain brought along with it issues of waterlogging, floods, and landslides.
