Several multi-story buildings on Thursday collapsed in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu following the indecent rain in the state. As many as seven buildings have been collapsed in Himachal's Anni. The accident took place at around 9:40 am.
As reported, the affected buildings housed the offices of Kangra Co-operative Bank and SBI Bank. Sensing the potential danger, the authorities had already evacuated the buildings following heavy rainfall in the month of July.
"Three multi-storey commercial buildings and four residential buildings in Anni bazar collapsed today morning. They were already vacated few days back as there was apprehension of this. No human loss. NH 305 blocked because of this presently," said SP Kullu.
Since the onset of the monsoon in the hill state on June 24, 220 persons have died in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh and 11,637 houses have been partially or completely damaged, according to the state emergency operation centre.
A total of over 2,000 houses have been fully damaged, and 9,615 houses have been partially damaged, with 113 landslides occurring in this year's monsoon season. About 408 transformers and 149 water supply schemes have been disrupted. Over 2,074 people have been evacuated from the flooded areas of Kangra district.
The national highways, state, district and local road networks have been severely damaged and destroyed. Dozens of bridges have been washed away or damaged severely hampering connectivity and rescue efforts. The unprecedented excessive precipitation has led to a series of challenges that impacted daily life in the state.
District Administration supported by the Government has been carrying out relief and rescue activities, ever since the onset of monsoon, working day and night to save lives, provide relief to the affected persons, and restore essential services to minimize the impact of disaster.
As per reports, the government data clearly indicates that there are around 17,120 landslide-prone sites in Himachal Pradesh, adding that 675 of these are near critical infrastructure and habitations. The maximum of such prioritised landslide-prone sites are in Chamba (133) followed by Mandi (110), Kangra (102), Lahaul and Spiti (91), Una (63), Kullu (55), Shimla (50), Solan (44), Bilaspur (37), Sirmaur (21) and Kinnaur (15).
