Himachal-Uttarakhand weather: Landslides hit Jakhan village, search operations underway in Shimla

IMD Scientist Surender Paul said, "The state witnessed scattered rainfall in the last 24 hours. Monsoon is on the higher side this time...If we see the data, there is 43% excess rainfall since June 1 in Himachal Pradesh. Scattered rainfall will occur in the next 4-5 days. There will be controlled rainfall in the state till August 25." 

“Will we also die, will our house too break, papa,” my six-year-old daughter asked as the horror of the devastating rains here hit home on Independence Day. Our family had rushed out after hearing a deafening roar. There were screams as the side of a hill barely 100 metres from our home, across a nullah, slid. A couple of multi-storey houses, some makeshift homes and a slaughterhouse were buried under the rubble. Our daughter was already upset when this landslide in Krishnanagar locality took place. Two girls, studying in nursery and class 2 at her school, had died Monday when a landslip buried a Shiv temple in Summer Hill locality. But for us the landslide nearer home was more heartbreaking, even if the casualties were far fewer than in the one at the Shiv temple. The Krishnanagar houses had begun showing cracks and most people had evacuated hours earlier.

With the recovery of one more body from the debris of a collapsed Shiv temple in Summer Hill area here, the death toll in the rain fury in Himachal Pradesh has climbed to 72, officials said on Thursday. The deceased was identified as Prof P L Sharma, Chairman, Department of Mathematics, Himachal Pradesh University. The temple was crowded with devotees on Monday when the landslide struck. Eight persons are still feared buried in the debris. Heavy rains have lashed the hill state since Sunday, triggering landslides in several districts, including Shimla. The total number of deaths in rain-related incidents in the state since Sunday night has increased to 72 with Shimla alone accounting for 21 deaths. 

As Himachal Pradesh is battling the worst natural calamity in 50 years, civil society organisations and environmental activists have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider declaration of the situation as a national disaster or calamity of rare severity under the provisions of the Disaster Management Act of 2005. In a missive to the Prime Minister, they said the state is currently grappling with an unprecedented disaster scenario. For the past one month, more than half of the population has been living under constant life threats due to heavy rainfall, floods, and landslides. The floods across the Beas valley were the starting point of this large-scale disaster now unfolding across several districts of the state, they said. Thousands of buildings have been destroyed partially or completely, hundreds of lives lost, and thousands of families forced to abandon their homes, seeking refuge in temporary shelters or with relatives. The situation is dire, with approximately 2,000 roads severely damaged, and both government and private property suffering significant losses. Preliminary estimates, they say, suggest that the state is facing a staggering loss of more than Rs 10,000 crore, which is unprecedented.

Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu clarified on his "Bihari architects" comment, he said, "I did not say anything as such. The people of Bihar were also stuck here. I got them evacuated by helicopters. Around 200 people from Bihar are still stuck here. They are like our brothers. It is the fault of our structural engineering, they are just labourers".

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Thursday said a total of 13 bodies, among 21 people who went missing after a massive landslide struck the Summer Hill area of Shimla earlier this week, have been recovered. Speaking to ANI, NDRF Inspector Naseef Khan said, "The rescue and search operation has been underway for 4 days. The Army, SDRF and the police are engaged in the ongoing rescue operations here. Of the 21 people missing, 13 bodies have been recovered so far."

Choppers belonging to the Western Air Command carried out over 50 sorties over the last 48 hours, rescuing over 780 citizens in the flood-affected areas of Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh, Indian Air Force officials informed on Wednesday. Speaking on the ongoing relief and rescue operations in Fatehpur sub-division of Kangra district, Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, Nipun Jindal, told media, "A total of 800 trapped civilians were rescued on August 15. Further rescue operations are underway with the help of NDRF, the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force. All necessary arrangements have been made for those rescued so far. Relief camps have also been set up for them."

The death toll in rain-battered Himachal Pradesh rose to 71 on Wednesday with more bodies being recovered, as Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu termed rebuilding the damaged infrastructure a mountain-like challenge. "At least 71 people have died in the past three days and 13 are still missing. A total of 57 bodies have been recovered since Sunday night," Principal Secretary (Revenue) Onkar Chand Sharma said. Earlier, Chief Minister Sukhu said that about 60 people have died since Sunday night. Heavy rains have lashed the hill state since Sunday, triggering landslides in several districts including Shimla where three areas- Summer Hill, Fagli and Krishna Nagar- are badly hit by landslips. Sukhu said his state will take a year to rebuild the infrastructure wrecked by the heavy rains this monsoon and claimed that the estimated loss in the two devastating spells of heavy rains - this week and in July - is about Rs 10,000 crore.

Deputy Commissioner, Kangra Nipun Jindal speaks on the relief & rescue operation underway in Fatehpur Sub Division, says, "800 people were rescued on August 15...Rescue is underway with the help of NDRF, the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force. All necessary arrangements have been done for the rescued people. Relief camps have also been established" (16.08)

Rescuers have safely evacuated 243 pilgrims who were stranded since Monday on the trek route to Madmaheshwar temple in rain-hit Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district following a bridge collapse. The shrine which is part of the Panch Kedar group of temples in Uttarakhand is located at an altitude of 11,473 ft. State Disaster Response Fund personnel were pressed into service and 190 pilgrims were airlifted by a helicopter on Wednesday, while 53 were evacuated on Tuesday through the rope river crossing method, the state disaster control room here said on Wednesday evening. Around 290 pilgrims were stranded on the route on Monday when a bridge at Bantoli in Gaundar village broke down following heavy downpour. Incessant rains have been lashing various parts of the hill state causing landslides that demolished buildings and flooding rivers and streams whose swirling waters swept away people in separate incidents.

More than 960 people have been rescued while over 10,000 have been shifted to safer places in regions of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab battered by heavy rains and flash floods, the NDRF said on Wednesday. A total of 29 teams of the federal contingency force have been earmarked for undertaking relief and rescue operations in these states out of which 14 are actively deployed while the rest are on standby. Due to excessive rainfall in the last few days, flash floods hit Kangra, Shimla and Mandi districts of Himachal Pradesh and Rupnagar district of Punjab, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said in a statement. Several houses have been damaged and a number of people are stranded at various places, it said. So far, NDRF has rescued more than 960 victims and shifted 10,363 personnel to safer places in these states, it said in an update issued at 7:00 pm. The central force apart from state disaster response units, army, air force, police and local authorities are undertaking rescue operations in the affected areas.

Rescuers have pulled out another four bodies, including those of a couple and their son, from the debris at a resort in Uttarakhand's Lakshman Jhula that was hit by a landslide following heavy rain on Monday. Two bodies were retrieved late on Tuesday and two others on Wednesday, the SSP Office in Pauri said. They victims have been identified as 39-year-old Kamal Verma, his wife Nisha (37) and their son Nirmit (11). The other body has been identified as that of Nishant Verma (18), son of one Ravi Verma.

Around 70 pilgrims stranded on the trek route to Madmaheshwar temple in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district were safely evacuated on Wednesday with the help of a helicopter and SDRF personnel, while efforts were underway to rescue over 80 devotees still stuck at the spot, officials said. More than 200 pilgrims got stranded on the route on Monday when a bridge at Bantoli in Gaundar village broke down following heavy rains. While 52 of them were rescued with the help of ropes by SDRF personnel by Tuesday evening, 70 more were rescued on Wednesday morning in a helicopter, he said.