Amid incessant rainfall, the death toll due to cloudbursts and landslides in Himachal Pradesh climbed to 80. Of these, 52 people died in rain-related incidents and 28 others due to accidents, new agency ANI reported, citing a report by the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA).
Majority of the fatalities have been directly attributed to landslides, flash floods, and cloudbursts.
Mandi district remained the worst-hit due to the heavy rains in Himachal this monsoon, reporting 17 rain-related deaths. The SDMA report took stock of incidents from June 20 to July 7, attributing 28 deaths to “other causes” including electrocution, snake bites, and falls from steep terrain.
“As per cumulative data compiled till July 7, the state has recorded 80 deaths–52 from rain-induced incidents, 28 from road accidents,” an SDMA official said, as quoted by the report.
According to the report, 128 people were left injured due to the rains. 320 houses fully damaged, 38 partially damaged, and 10,254 livestock and poultry deaths were reported in Himachal during the period of 17 days. Public infrastructure sustained a damage of over Rs 692 crore due to the rains.
Rescue ops underway
Search and rescue operations are still underway in Himachal, with drones and sniffer dogs deployed to rescue the dozens of people still missing due to the flash floods and landslides in the state.
About 250 personnel from the National and State Disaster Response Forces, Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Home Guards, along with the administration and locals, are undertaking the search and rescue work.
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Several leaders including Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut, Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, state BJP chief Rajiv Bindal, and several cabinet ministers have visited the affected areas.
According to the state government, 241 water supply projects were damaged in the affected areas, including the largest scheme worth Rs 121 crore in the Seraj and Balichowki areas.
As light to moderate rain continued to lash parts of Himachal Pradesh over the weekend, the local MeT office has issued a yellow warning for heavy rain at isolated places in four districts of Una, Hamirpur, Solan and Sirmaur districts till Wednesday.
(With inputs from agencies)
