Incessant rains and landslides killed 81 people in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand as operations continued to rescue the injured and pull out bodies from debris due to house collapses in several places.
The weather office has predicted isolated but heavy rainfall in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the next few days.
Himachal rain fury
The death toll in rain-battered Himachal Pradesh rose to 71 on Wednesday with more bodies being recovered. “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, reported news agency PTI.
Heavy rains have lashed the hill state since last week, triggering landslides in several districts, including Shimla, where three areas- Summer Hill, Fagli and Krishna Nagar are badly hit.
According to the state emergency operation centre, 214 people have died in rain-related incidents in the state since the onset of monsoon on June 24, while 38 are still missing.
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“Rescue operations are going on in Summer Hill and Krishna Nagar areas. A body was recovered from Summer Hill site,” Shimla Deputy Commissioner Aditya Negi told PTI.
About 15 houses in Krishna Nagar have been vacated and the families shifted to safer places, fearing landslides due to incessant rains.
Over 800 people evacuated in Kangra
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu stated that over 800 people were evacuated from the low-lying areas of Kangra near the Pong Dam as the villages became inaccessible due to the elevated water level in the dam.
A total of six teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are deployed in Kangra where many villages in Indora, Fatehpur and Jawalamukhi constituencies were flooded due to the release of excess water by the Pong dam. The Air Force is engaged in airlifting stranded villagers in these areas.
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Toll in Uttarakhand climbs to 10
Four bodies, including those of a couple and their son, were recovered 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. The death toll in rain-related incidents in Uttarakhand has risen to 10 with the recovery of these four bodies.
Traffic continued to remain disrupted with the Pauri-Kotdwar-Dugadda national highway blocked by landslide debris at Amsaur. A stretch of the Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway was washed away near Pipalkoti Bharenpani, the state’s disaster control room said.
Also Read: 58 dead as heavy rains batter Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand; red alerts issued
Flash floods in Punjab
Punjab is facing fresh flooding with many areas of Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur and Rupnagar districts submerged following the release of excess water from the Pong and the Bhakra dams.
The state government is keeping a close watch on the situation and relief and rescue operations are underway in the flood-hit areas, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said adding that the water levels in the Bhakra and the Pong dams are at 1,677 feet and 1,398 feet, respectively.
(With inputs from agencies)