In separate incidents of flash flood and landslide brought on by heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh, authorities reported today that six people were killed and 13 others were feared dead.
They claimed that 22 people who were left stranded after a flash flood in the state’s Hamirpur district were safely evacuated.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur expressed his condolences for the fatalities and said that the administration was conducting rescue efforts in the affected districts on a war footing.
According to authorities, a landslide brought on by rains in the Chamba district claimed the lives of three people after their home collapsed.
According to the Chamba district emergency operation centre (DEOC), a house collapsed after a landslide at Banet village in Chowari tehsil around 4.30 am, killing three people.
Authorities reported that a girl was killed in Mandi and that 13 other people were feared dead after heavy rains caused a landslide and flash flood.
Five members of the girl’s family were swept away on Friday night, while the body of the girl was found about half a kilometre from her home in Baghi Nullah on the Mandi-Katola-Prashar road.
Following a cloud burst, several families left their homes in the Baghi to Old Katola areas and sought safety elsewhere, the department added.
A landslide at Kashan village in the Gohar development block is also thought to have buried eight members of another family under their home’s debris, the department added.
But, it claimed, the bodies have not yet been found.
In addition, a number of roads in the Mandi district are blocked as a result of numerous landslides and flash floods.
As water entered residents’ homes and businesses in Balh, Sadar, Thunag, Mandi, and Lamathach, several vehicles were damaged, and some villagers were trapped inside their homes, according to officials.
Due to the ongoing, nonstop rain, all schools in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh will be closed today, according to a senior administrative official.
Sudesh Kumar Mokhta, director of the state disaster management department, said that rainfall would likely increase over the next 24 hours and continue to rise for the next three to four days, with heavy downpours possible in some areas of the Kangra, Chamba, Mandi, Kullu, Shimla, Sirmaur, Solan, Hamirpur, Una, and Bilaspur districts.
Mr. Mokhta requested that district emergency operations centres (DEOCs) take the necessary precautions due to the possibility of landslides, flash floods, cloudbursts, rock slides, sudden rises in river levels, poor visibility, and interruptions to critical services during this time.
After the India Meteorological Department predicted moderate to heavy rainfall through August 28, the Kangra district administration issued an advisory asking tourists and residents to avoid rivers and streams.
