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.