Himachal Pradesh: 34 people missing after cloudburst in the state, CM Sukhu took stock of the damage in Dharampur
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34 people are missing after cloudburst at 17 places in Himachal Pradesh last Monday night. Search operation is being conducted by NDRF and SDRF to find the missing people. Cloudburst occurred at 15 places in Mandi district, while one each in Kullu and Kinnaur districts. Mandi district suffered the most damage due to cloudburst, rain and landslides. Houses were reduced to dust. 18 people have lost their lives in the entire state including 16 people in Mandi. Death of five people in Gohar subdivision, three in Thunag and one each in Jogindernagar and Karsog has been confirmed and the administration is identifying the dead.
More than 332 people have been rescued from various places and saved their lives. In Mandi district alone, 24 houses and 12 cowsheds have been razed to the ground. 30 animals have died. Patikari project near Kuklah has been washed away. Many bridges have been destroyed. After the cloudburst, communication services in the area are also badly affected, making it difficult to contact. This monsoon season, 51 people have died from 20 June to 1 July due to cloudburst, floods and landslides. 103 are injured and 22 are missing. Now a loss of Rs 28,339.81 lakh has been incurred.
CM reached Syathi village and met the disaster affected families
Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday visited the disaster affected Syathi village of Laungani Panchayat in Dharampur of Mandi district. He met the families affected by the cloudburst and shared their grief and reviewed the relief and rehabilitation work being carried out by the district administration. 61 people have been affected by the cloudburst incident and houses, cowsheds and animals have suffered a lot of damage. District administration Mandi has provided immediate assistance to the affected people including financial assistance of Rs 1.70 lakh, ration supplies, tarpaulin and other relief materials. While talking to the affected families, the Chief Minister said that the State Government stands with them in this hour of grief. He directed the administration to ensure every possible arrangement to the affected. He said that special relief package will be provided for the reconstruction of damaged houses and enhanced compensation will also be provided for the loss of livestock including cows, goats, sheep and destroyed Gaushalas.
The affected families narrated their ordeal and said that the entire village was washed away in this disaster. Many people have barely saved their lives. On the demand for providing land from the affected, the Chief Minister assured that if government land is available in the area, it will be allotted to them. If there is land in the forest land area, then this matter will be raised before the Central Government. The Chief Minister also inspected the damage caused to the Mandi-Kotli road.
Later in an informal conversation with the media, the Chief Minister said that heavy destruction has occurred in Mandi district due to torrential rains. 20 houses have been completely damaged due to landslide in Syathi village and 61 people have been given shelter in safe relief camps in time. He stressed the need to find out and study the causes of sliding of the rock surface.
He said that eight to ten incidents of cloudburst have occurred in the state. Climate change can also be a reason for this. The central and state governments should collectively study the causes of such incidents. He said that there has been heavy damage in Thunag, Janjehli and Bagsyad areas of Mandi district. Employees are dedicatedly working to restore essential services in the affected areas. The road in Bagsyad has been restored due to the promptness of the employees. So far 10 people have died in Mandi district, while 34 others are missing. The death of five persons has been confirmed in Gohar sub-division, three in Thunag and one each in Jogindernagar and Karsog and the administration is identifying the deceased. Dharampur MLA Chandra Shekhar said that the Chief Minister has shown sensitive leadership by visiting the disaster affected areas within 24 hours and sharing the pain of the victims. Kangra Central Cooperative Bank Chairman Kuldeep Singh Pathania, Congress leader Pawan Thakur, Deputy Commissioner Apoorv Devgan, Superintendent of Police Sakshi Verma and other senior officials were present on the occasion.
Help was sought from the Air Force
Earlier, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu said in Hamirpur that the state has suffered a huge loss in the last 24 hours. Help has been sought from the Air Force. Many people have lost their lives. Many people are missing. Instructions have been given to speed up the rescue work. Leaves of employees of the Electricity Board and Water Power Department have been cancelled. The work of restoring electricity is being done on a war footing. He also took stock of the bus stand under construction in Hamirpur.
The government should rescue the people trapped in other areas of Seraj with immediate effect: Jairam
Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Jairam Thakur reached Bakhli and Kuklah via ropeway from Kainchi Mor. He met the disaster affected people and assured them of all possible help from the Central and State Government. Jairam Thakur said that the tragedy that has happened in this area naturally has never been seen before. He said that Kuklah and Bakhli bridges have been broken and now the only means of transportation for the people of this area is the ropeway. Therefore, this ropeway should be kept operational 24 hours a day at concessional rates for the convenience of the people. He said that people should also be allowed to carry their ration etc. from here itself, because people do not have any other option.
Jairam Thakur has also demanded from the state government to speed up the rescue operation of people in other areas of Seraj and to deliver relief material soon. Deputy Pradhan of Saroa Panchayat Devendra Rana alias Pammi said that when this disaster struck during the rains, a small ravine assumed such a fierce form that the temple’s inn and the houses of nine families, Bakhli bridge, Kuklah bridge, roads connecting villages, vehicles and household goods of people, everything was washed away in the water. Some vehicles are stuck in the silt. Signs of destruction are scattered in every corner of the ravine. So far only the Patwari has come to see the spot, no other big administrative officer has arrived. Neither ration was received, nor tents, nor immediate relief. He has demanded that arrangements should be made immediately for the homeless people to live in a safe place.
Jairam took stock of the damage by walking in Bagsyad
Jairam reached Bagsyad of Seraj, the disaster-affected area, by walking on foot. He said that helicopters have been sent by the Center for disaster relief. The administration has been asked to speed up the rescue operation by helicopter. All the sick and elderly people who are stranded in the disaster affected areas should be evacuated. Ration and life saving medicines should be made available immediately in the areas where roads have been damaged.
Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Jairam Thakur met NDRF officials and disaster affected people.
MLA Anil Sharma took stock of the damage caused by heavy rains in Mandi
Sadar MLA Anil Sharma took stock of the damage caused by heavy rains in Mandi city. He inspected Raghunath Ka Padhar, Tarna, Jail Road and other places and directed the Municipal Corporation and the administration to provide proper relief to the affected. He also asked the Municipal Corporation Commissioner to prepare a report of the damage and also to investigate the quality of construction of the link road in Tarna. He also thanked the District Administration, Municipal Corporation Commissioner, Police and Fire Department for taking prompt action in the disaster and rescuing the affected people at the right time and saving them from loss of life. On this occasion, Municipal Corporation Mayor Virendra Bhatt, Tarna Ward Councilor Deepali Jaswal, former councilor Bansi Lal and people of the ward were present.
