HP take stock of rain damage, toll rises to 31

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh authorities on Tuesday took stock of the havoc caused by the recent rains, saying 31 people have been killed, nearly 1,300 roads closed due to landslides and floods and 40 major bridges damaged.

In Kullu's Sainj area alone, around 40 shops and 30 houses were washed away, according to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who conducted an aerial survey of the Kasol, Manikaran, Kheer Ganga and Pulga areas.

Officiating Director General of Police Satwant Atwal said 31 people have died in the recent rains in the past three days. He said 250 tourists are stranded in Chandertal and 300 in Sissu in the Lahaul and Spiti district and 300 in parts of Mandi district.

An attempt to evacuate them by an IAF helicopter failed due to bad weather, Atwal said. However, there has been little rain on Tuesday, helping the authorities to intensify the restoration of damaged infrastructure.

Officials said the Shimla-Kalka highway, which was blocked for vehicular traffic due to a cave-in following a landslide at the Chakki Mor area near Jabli, has been partially restored for one-way traffic. A large number of vehicles, however, are stranded on both sides of the road.

The state education department has issued an order stating all government schools will be closed till July 15. The state public service commission has re-scheduled the Himachal Pradesh Administrative Service Competitive (Preliminary) Examination to August 20 in the wake of the bad weather. The chief minister said excessive damage has been caused by the rainfall in the past few days.

There is not even a single panchayat in the state where roads and water supply schemes have not been damaged, he stressed. Atwal said the chopper sent to the Chandertal area to evacuate the stranded tourists had to return due to bad weather conditions, and appealed to people to stay positive.

"Will try again as the cloud cover gives way," she said in a tweet.

A rescue team from Kaza has reached Kunzum Top and is a few kilometres away from the lake, Principal Secretary of Revenue Onkar Chand Sharma said.

"Two of the stranded tourists were facing breathing issues due to the high altitude and they would be airlifted," Sharma said, adding that all the stranded people would be evacuated to safe places. About 100 people were rescued from different places in the hill state on Monday. (PTI)