Incessant rains, leading to landslides and flood-like situation made a comeback in several parts of northern India, leaving destruction in states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
During rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh, at least 71 people were killed in the last three days. This is more than the death toll of the entire month of July,
Apart from this, the hill state has seen losses of s Rs 7,200 crore since June 24. All schools and colleges in Himachal Pradesh to remain closed on Thursday, i.e. August 17.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted more heavy rainfall over Himachal for the next 2 days, and over Uttarakhand for the next 5 days.
Trail of destruction
Due to incessant rain fall in the last few days, flash floods were seen in Kangra, Shimla and Mandi districts of Himachal Pradesh and Rupnagar district of Punjab. Here, several houses were damaged and a number of people were stuck at various locations.
In Uttarakhand, torrential rain has been consistent since the past 48 hours, and this has destroyed buildings, caused landslidesthat breached the national highways to Badrinath, Kedarnath and Gangotri shrines.
#WATCH | Onkar Chand Sharma, Principal Secretary, Disaster Management, Himachal Pradesh government on losses due to heavy rainfall in the state” 71 deaths reported in three days from 13th to 15th August. Losses suffered amount to around Rs 7500 crores, it is expected to rise.… pic.twitter.com/H9Gl8G86zd
— ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2023
Rescuers have pulled out another four bodies, including those of a couple and their son, from the debris at a resort in Uttarakhand’s Lakshman Jhula that was hit by a landslide following heavy rain on Monday.
In Punjab, villages in Hoshiarpur, Rupnagar and Gurdaspur districts were inundated following the release of excess water from the Bhakra and Pong dams.
Rescue operations
Till now, more than 960 people have been rescued in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab and over 10,000 people were moved to safer places, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said in a statement.
A total of 29 teams of the NDRF have been earmarked for undertaking relief and rescue operations in these states out of which 14 are actively deployed while the rest are on standby.
Apart from this, state disaster response units, army, air force, police and local authorities are undertaking rescue operations in the affected areas.
Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that at least 1,100 people have been evacuated from vulnerable areas in the Kangra district using helicopters and motor boats.
Rainfall predictions
In East, light to moderate rainfall is likely over over Odisha until Saturday, Jharkhand till August 18, West Bengal and Sikkim till August 17, IMD said in its latest weather bulletin.
Heavy rainfall is likely over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura till August 20.
Chhattisgarh will also see heavy rainfall activity till August 20, and so will parts of Madhya Pradesh.
In the remaining part of the country, there will be subdued rainfall activity for the next 5 days.
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