Himachal Pradesh Tragedy: As many as 63 people have died and property worth ₹400 crore has been crucially damaged due to continuous heavy rainfall in Himachal Pradesh. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a rain alert until till July 7, warning of heavily rainfall in the state Himachal Pradesh.
Over ₹400 crore worth of damage has been recorded in Himachal Pradesh due to heavy rain, but officials say the real loss could be even higher. DC Rana, The Special Secretary of the State Disaster Management Authority, said that the focus right now is on search, rescue, and restoring services for their safety.
According to Naresh Chauhan, Media Advisor to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, 63 people have died and 40 are missing due to cloudbursts and other rain-related disasters.
In Mandi district alone, 40 people are missing. The death toll in Mandi from cloudbursts and flash floods has reached 14. Relief camps have been set up, and the Indian Air Force has dropped food packets to help those in the worst-hit areas.
Heavy rains and landslides in Himachal Pradesh have caused major destruction. Over 150 houses, 106 cattle sheds, 31 vehicles, 14 bridges, and many roads have been damaged, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).
A total of 164 cattle has died. So far, 402 people have been rescued—348 of them from Mandi district. Five relief camps have been set up to support those affected.
The extreme weather has blocked 246 roads, including 145 in Mandi, and disrupted 404 power transformers and 784 water supply schemes across the state.
In Manali, the Manali-Keylong road was blocked due to flooding near Solang Nallah. Traffic has been diverted to Rohtang Pass.
A large landslide occurred in Dhalli, near Shimla, where part of a hill came down. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.
In Lindidhar village, the collapse of a road embankment on the Kaithlighat-Dhalli highway damaged many apple trees and left several houses in a dangerous condition. Locals said the safety wall had collapsed earlier too, but no repairs were made. They blamed the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for their negligence.
Relief and Rescue Efforts Continue Amid Connectivity Challenges in Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh Tragedy: In Himachal Pradesh Field coordination had remained difficult in the Thunag area of Mandi District due to road blockages and poor mobile network of area coverage. To improve the communication Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has activated their Intra Circle Roaming (ICR). Additionally, satellite phones (ISATs) have been sent to the area for their emergency use.
Relief Operations Underway
The Jal Shakti Department has started small gravity-based water supply systems after proper chlorination to provide safe drinking water in affected villages.
For people search and rescue operations are ongoing in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. Two National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) of their teams were along with State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), police, and home guards were working on the ground.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhu said that 246 ration kits have been air-dropped in Thunag and Janjheli for their food.
At a press conference in Mandi, Leader of the Opposition Jairam Thakur said that his constituency, Seraj, is among with the worst-affected areas, around 500 houses were damaged.
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