The death toll in rain-battered Himachal Pradesh rose to 74 as another body was pulled out of the rubble of a Shiva temple in Shimla while two more people were killed in Chamba district, according to the state emergency operation centre.
21 of these deaths were in the three major landslides in Shimla alone – at the Shiva temple in Summer Hill, in Fagli and in Krishnanagar. Eight people are still feared buried in the temple debris.
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Rescue operations are still underway at the landslide sites in Shimla. So far, 14 bodies have been recovered from Summer Hill, five from Fagli and two from Krishnanagar, SP Gandhi said.
Meanwhile, the Indian Army, Air Force and other rescue personnel have evacuated 309 people from the flood-affected area in Kangra district’s Fatehpur and Pong Dam in Indora. Over the last three days, 2,074 people have been evacuated from these areas.
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The state has been hit by 113 landslides in the 55 days since the monsoon began, causing losses of Rs 2,491 crore to the Public Works Department (PWD) and Rs 1,000 crore to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
The estimated Rs 10,000 crore of damage across Himachal Pradesh does not reflect the true cost of the disaster, which has had a devastating impact on individuals and businesses alike, NDTV reported.
In Shimla’s Summer Hill, a section of the railway tracks has been swept away, leaving the tracks hanging in the air.
As many as 217 people have died in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh since the onset of the monsoon on June 24.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that rebuilding the infrastructure damaged by the recent landslides is a “mountain-like challenge” as the the devastating rainfall this year in Himachal has not just destroyed infrastructure but also uprooted entire families.