Landslides, flash floods, cloudbursts and other effects of the heavy continuous downpour for the past few days have claimed at least 58 lives, damaged properties and destroyed infrastructure wreaking havoc on the development activities of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday issued a ‘red alert’ for several parts of the two states stating that heavy to very heavy rainfall was likely to occur over the next 24 hours.
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On Independence Day, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that a simple ceremony had been organised and no cultural event was taking place in light of the disaster that hit the state.
Around 55 people were killed as rains wreaked havoc in Himachal Pradesh, triggering landslides that blocked key roads, damaged homes and buried devotees in the rubble of a temple, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu informed.
“The death toll might go up. Restoration work being done on a war footing,” the CM was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. He also stated that the Chandigarh-Shimla 4-lane highway along with other arterial roads have been opened.
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Meanwhile, three people have reportedly died in Uttarakhand. Fresh cracks have also appeared in Joshimath, raising fear among the residents of the Uttarakhand town as heavy rains lashed the state, news agency ANI reported.
Due to heavy downpour, around 16 families in Panwar Mohalla and Negi Mohalla in Sunil village of Joshimath are at risk, after the upper and lower sides of the village developed cracks at various places, raising the possibility of a major landslide in the area. According to the affected families, people were forced to stay outside their homes at night due to the fear of house collapse.
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