Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Major Highways Opened

After landslides caused by heavy rains- traffic was stopped on major highwaysof uttaranchal. Thousands of vehicles were stranded but now traffic had been restored besides heavy rains.

Monsoon Havoc In Himachal- 65 reported Dead in Coud Burst

Over 65 persons were feared to have been washed away in flashfloods caused by a cloudburst in Ghanvi village, about 175 km from here, this evening. So far four bodies have been recovered.

According to initial reports reaching here, 14 houses were swept away and 13 partially damaged by the gushing water and debris, which came down from Dharla village located uphill. There were a large number of labourers working at the Ghanvi Project (Stage-I) who lived in hutments.

A primary health centre building and a residence of a doctor were also washed away. Some employees and students, who lived in rented accommodations, were also feared to have been killed. Exact details were not available as the village had been cut off with flood waters washing away roads.

Deputy Commissioner Tarun Kapoor said there were around 100 persons, mostly labourers, who lived in temporary hutments and around 15 houses of villagers. All approaches to the area had been blocked due to landslides and exact information would be available only in the morning.

The local subdivisional magistrate was camping at Juri and rescue teams had been sent to the village.

The Ghanvi power plant was shut down as the level of silt rose to 15,000 ppm due to flashfloods. The 300-MW Baspa Project was also closed due to high silt level.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

French man dies while trekking in Himachal

A French national who was trekking in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu valley died after he slipped and fell into a stream, police said.

Goergett Gregory, 26, and his two friends were trekking near Vashiht Thursday when he fell into a 300-feet deep gorge. He died on the spot, the media Friday quoted Manali police officer Sanjay Sharma as saying.

Police said Gregory's friends, including his French girlfriend, were with him when the accident took place.

Experts from the Mountaineering Institute of Manali pulled out the body. The French embassy in New Delhi has been informed about the accident

Gastroenteritis reported from Kullu areas

Areas around Archhandi village near Naggar village have reported about 12 cases of gastroenteritis in the past two days and more than 24 cases of acute diarrhoea. Four cases were admitted to the government Aurvedic Hospital, Katrain, yesterday and seven were admitted to a private clinic, Chand Medical Centre (CMC), Patlikuhal.

Dr O. P. Ghandwal, medical health officer, and officiating chief medical officer, here, said a team of doctors and paramedical staff had rushed to the village and taken stock of the situation. He said he himself was also in the village and the situation there was under control.

He said the team had treated 10 cases scattered in four-five hamlets, but none of the patients was seriously ill. Ghandwal confirmed that the cause of the disease was the contaminated drinking water, as the people were drinking supplies of the Nullah water, which was not fit for human consumption.

He further said the villagers had been advised to take precautions and use boiled water until the Irrigation and Public Health Department cured the water. He said “There is no outbreak or epidemic” as feared and “things are under control”.

Heavy Rains in Himachal Pradesh- More than 50 dies

The over century-old railway station at Koti on the Shimla-Kalka track was washed away in a cloud burst and 19 persons were killed at various places over the past 24 hours as rain havoc continued in the state for the second day today. With this, the death toll due to rain-related incidents over the past two days has risen to 50.

Normal life remained totally paralysed as not only the link roads but even the main highways, including Shimla-Kalka, Shimla-Mandi and Hindustan-Tibet road, remained blocked by landslides. People of Solan, Shimla, Kinnaur and parts of Bilaspur and Mandi districts went without newspapers, milk, vegetables and other daily necessities. The transportation from Kinnaur, Rampur and upper Shimla areas was affected due to numerous road blockades.

Six persons died in Solan district, which recorded the heaviest rain in the state. Dharampur received 330.5 mm of rain in less than 24 hours during the cloudburst, which brought down Koti station. The massive landslide not only disrupted the movement of trains but also blocked the Shimla-Kalka national highway causing one of the worst traffic jams in recent times. More than 3,000 vehicles remained stranded for about 18 hours on both sides of the blockade. Two persons were killed in Kasuali, two in Nagli and another two in Parwanoo. Nadaun in Hamirpur recorded the highest rainfall of 511 mm over the past 48 hours (280 mm in 24 hours), followed by Bharanj 456.5 mm (142.2 mm), Dharampur 373.7 mm (330.5 mm), Mandi 361.5 mm (174.5 mm) and Guler 356.1 mm (146mm and Sundernagar 340.6mm(147.5 mm).

A family of four, including a five-month old child, was buried in a landslide in Nag village near Matiana in Upper Shimla area. The other three deceased, all Nepali labourers, were identified as Prem Kumari, Man Prasad and Bhim Bahadur.

Power situation improved somewhat as 300 MW of generation was resumed, improving the grid frequency to 49.4 from yesterday’s 48.7. However, the 1500 MW could not be generated for the third consecutive day though the level of silt in Sutlej came down from 70,000 ppm to 14,000 ppm today. The project can be operated only up to a silt level of 4,000 ppm. The silting of water sources feeding Shimla town affected pumping of water as a result of which taps remained dry in most parts of the town.

Four more persons were reported killed the Kangra district. The rescue workers recovered two bodies from the landslide under which some shops were buried in Jwalamukhi. One person died in Dehra and another was washed away in Kotla. A women and an 11-year old boy were washed away in Lot village and an unidentified women was washed away in Suketi Khad in the Mandi district. A couple was buried alive in Lathiani village in Hamirpur district. In Kinnaur landslides at six places blocked the main highway from Reckong Peo to Pooh.

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