Himachal’s Mandi cloudburst causes havoc, 5 more bodies found; death toll rises to 15

Amid the massive destruction caused by cloudburst at seven places in Mandi district on the night of June 30, teams engaged in relief work have found five more bodies on Wednesday. With this, a total of 15 people have died in the natural disaster so far, while 58 people are still missing. 46 people are missing in the most affected Saraj area itself. Among them, 16 from Thunag, 18 from Pakharair, seven from Jarol, four from Chiuni and one person from Pandavashila are missing. This also includes a laboratory assistant and some girl students.

Continuous search operation is going on for their search. Four bodies have been recovered from Thunag, Pandavashila and Jarol areas. At the same time, the body of nine-year-old Kanika, who went missing from Syanj village of Gohar sub-division, was found on the banks of Beas river in Kandhapatan. Earlier, the body of her grandmother Devku Devi was also recovered from the same place.

The bodies of both were cremated with tearful eyes in the village. Other members of the family are still missing. 148 houses and 104 cowsheds have been completely destroyed due to the disaster across the district. 162 cattle have died, while 14 bridges have been washed away. Due to this, many villages have been completely cut off from communication.

In Thunag subdivision alone, six bridges, 40 houses and 30 vehicles have been washed away. Administration and SDRF teams are continuously engaged in relief and rescue operations. But heavy debris and broken roads are a big obstacle in rescue operations. Even after three days, 152 roads in the district are still closed.

Apart from this, 489 transformers and 465 drinking water schemes are affected, due to which people are facing severe shortage of electricity and water. Communication services had come to a standstill in Thunag area, but now limited internet service has been restored there with the help of ‘Dot India’ service.