Himachal Pradesh cloudburst: 3 killed, 40 missing; search operation on, IMD issues orange alert

Three people were killed and about 40 went missing after two separate incidents of cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh where rains washed away many houses and roads and left two hydro power projects damaged, officials said today.

A cloudburst at Samagh Khud (nallah) in Rampur subdivision of Shimla district left two people dead and 28 others missing, Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi, SP of Shimla, said.  

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Anupam Kashyap said the cloudburst occurred close to 1 am. Rescue operation is challenging as roads have been washed away, he said. 

Revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi said massive damage has been caused due to heavy rains and cloudburst in the state. Four motorable bridges and footbridges have been washed away and rescue operations are going on in full swing, he said, adding the apple crop has also been damaged. 

Another cloudburst in Thalatukhod area of Padhar in Mandi district on July 31 night left one person dead and nine others missing.

Due to the overflowing Beas River, the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway has been damaged at several places. Houses have been damaged in Bhagipul in Kullu, and an alert has been issued in Bhuntar area due to the swollen Parvati River and Malana Khud. The Manali-Chandigarh National Highway has been breached at numerous places due to landslides and waters of River Beas has entered some houses at Pandoh in Mandi.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has convened an emergency meeting at the secretariat following the cloudburst.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), police and home guards have started rescue operations. Drones are also being used to locate the missing people, Kashyap added. 

Earlier today, a building collapsed and was washed away in raging Parvati River in Kullu. The collapse occurred due to increased water flow in the river caused by heavy rains, according to reports. The exact details of the building and occupancy is yet to be known. 

“Under these circumstances, movement of staff, school and college children, and trainees may not be safe and should be restricted,” Mandi Deputy Commissioner Apoorv Devgan said, announcing that all educational institutions and vocational training centres in Padhar subdivision must remain shut. 

The regional Met office on July 31 issued an ‘orange’ alert for heavy to very heavy rain, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, in isolated places of all Himachal Pradesh districts, barring Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti, for August 1. A ‘yellow’ alert was also issued for heavy rain at isolated places from August 2. The wet spell in the state is predicted to last till August 6.

Heavy rains batter Uttarakhand 

Four people, including two children, were killed and several others were injured in Uttarakhand amid heavy rain on July 31. In Haridwar, two children died and nine others were injured when the roof of a dilapidated house collapsed after heavy rainfall, said an official. 

Nearly 200 pilgrims on the Kedarnath Yatra route were also stranded with the rain washing away a part of their walking path.  

The Kedarnath pilgrims were stopped at the Bhimbali Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) complex after portions of the footpath near Bhimbali were washed out. 

(With reports from agencies)