Himachal Pradesh: Buildings collapse in Kullu district; Congress govt declares state ‘natural calamity affected area’ 

Several commercial buildings collapsed due to landslides on Thursday in the Anni town of Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu confirmed the distressing development in a tweet. Sukhu further said that the administration identified the risk and successfully evacuated the buildings two days before they collapsed.  

“Disturbing visuals emerge from Anni, Kullu, depicting a massive commercial building collapsing amidst a devastating landslide.  It's noteworthy that the administration had identified the risk and successfully evacuated the building two days prior,” Sukhu said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Meanwhile, the Congress-led Himachal Pradesh government declared the hilly state as a ‘natural calamity affected area’. The total monetary loss in Himachal has reached Rs 8.014.61 crore since June 24, according to the latest information provided by the state government.

Total 2,022 houses have been fully damaged, 9,615 houses have been partially damaged and 113 landslides occur in this year’s monsoon season. Total 224 lives were lost due to monsoon in the state and 117 people died in road accidents in the state so far, as per ANI.

For the past few weeks, normal life in Himachal Pradesh has been thrown out of gear due to continuous rain, cloudbursts, and landslides. Commuters are facing troubles due to landslides, uprooting of trees and heavy rain. Over 13 major roads have been closed for public movement in Shimla as of August 23 since heavy rains wreaked havoc on the hilly state.

The roads have been closed are Tutikhandi-Phagli-Khalini-Bypass near Kanlog, Bamloe-Talland road, Baluganj-Summer Hill road, Mehli-Junga road near Ashwani Pul, Mehli-Badagaon-Shoghi road, Chotta-Shimla-Oakover road near Rahat Hotel, Kasumpti-Parimahal road, Vikasnagar-SDA Complex-Kasumpti road, Police line Kaithu road, Shimla-Solan-Parwanoo national highway at Chakki Mod, Narkanda-Nankhari at Jabalda, Nankhari-Nirath at Sharan Dakh, and Sunni-Rampur road at Lunsu.

Traffic movement was also halted on the Baddi-Nalagarh highway after the main bridge was damaged following a cave-in due to heavy downpour. One of the piers of the bridge had collapsed and bent in the middle. Due to this, Baddi was cut off from Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab. People travelling to Punjab and Haryana have been advised to take the Lakkar Deepu Bridge, according to the Himachal Pradesh Police.

Also Read: Driest August: India faces record low rains, summer crops under threat

Also Read: India's AI surge: LinkedIn report reveals 14x growth of professionals skilled in AI