Himachal rain fury: Landslide in Kullu district leaves one dead

A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescued three people, including a woman, and recovered one body.

Shimla: Two houses collapsed following a landslide in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district on Thursday, leaving one person dead and six more buried under the rubble, officials said.

The incident occurred in the Akhada Bazaar area round 6 am.

"Three persons were rescued and shifted to hospital while search is underway for six more buried under the debris," Assistant Commandant, NDRF, Santosh said.

"We were already engaged in a nearby site and rushed to the spot in 10 minutes and rescued three people on time," he added.

Earlier, on Tuesday night, two people including an NDRF jawan were killed as two houses collapsed in Akhada Bazaar and rescue operations were already going on to recover those buried.

Incessant rains in the past three-four days have triggered landslides at several places and three people have been rescued, one body recovered while search is on for six people buried under the rubble of the house in Akhada Bazaar, Deputy Commissioner, Kullu, Torul S Ravish said, adding rains is obstructing the rescue work.

Radhika Sankhyan, one of the injured who was pulled out by the NDRF team, said she was preparing tea in her kitchen when the landslide hit her house.

"I was buried under the utensils and rubble as the door of the kitchen also fell down," she said.

Officials said a road near Shayothal village caved in following which the Shamti bypass on the outskirts of Solan city has been closed for vehicular traffic.

Executive engineer, Public Works department Ravi Kapoor said the road has been closed as it developed cracks and was unsafe to commute.

In view of the inclement weather, all government and private colleges and schools, anganwadi and coaching centres will remain closed in the state till September 7.

A total of 1292 roads are closed in the state. While 294 were blocked in Mandi, 226 are in Kullu, 216 in Shimla, 204 in Chamba and 91 in Sirmaur district, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said.

National Highway-3 (Mandi-Dharampur road), NH -5 (Old Hindustan-Tibet road), NH-21 (Chandigarh- Manali road), NH-205 (Kharar to Swarghat), NH-305 (Aut-Sainj road) and NH-505 (Khab to Gramphu) were closed.

Rains have also disrupted 2,809 power transformers and 1,081 water supply schemes across the state, the SEOC said on Thursday morning.

Trains plying on the Shimla-Kalka track have been cancelled till Friday following landslips on the track.

Moderate to heavy rains lashed few parts of the state and Dharampur received 74.6 mm of rain since Wednesday evening followed by Karsog 69 mm, Kasauli 67 mm, Kandaghat 59 mm, Naina Devi 58.6 mm, Bhuntar 55.6 mm, Bilaspur 50.8 mm.

Sarahan and Shimla received 47 mm of rain each, Kahu 45 mm, Solan 44.4 mm, Manali 44 mm, Kufri 43.6 mm, Narkanda 42 mm, 41.5 mm and Rohru 40 mm.

Thunderstorms were witnessed in Shimla while gusty winds with wind speed between 33 to 41 kmph lashed Hamirpur, Neri, Tabo and Kukumseri.

The local Met office has issued a yellow alert of thunderstorm and lightning in isolated places in the state on Friday and Saturday.

Since the onset of monsoon in Himachal on June 20, the state has witnessed 95 flash floods, 45 cloudbursts and 127 major landslide incidents.

At least 343 people have died in rain-related incidents and road accidents, while 43 are missing since the monsoon began.

The state has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 3,690 crore this monsoon so far, according to official data.