Several houses collapsed due to landslides in Anni town of Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district on 24 August. Incessant rainfall in Himachal has led to landslides, cloudbursts and flash floods, causing significant damage to the ecologically sensitive hilly state.
It was feared that several people must be trapped under the debris, however, SP Saakshi Verma Kartikeyan told PTI that there were no casualties as people were already evacuated. "Seven buildings including three commercial buildings and four residential buildings collapsed but there were no casualties as people were already evacuated," she said as quoted by PTI.
Meanwhile on 23 August, hundreds of vehicles were stranded in the Kullu district after the Kullu-Mandi road got damaged due to rainfall. On this, Kullu SP Sakshi Verma said, “Due to the rainfall both the roads connecting Kullu district to Mandi have been damaged. The alternative route via Pandoh is also damaged &. PWD is trying to clear the road..."
Apart from this the Himachal traffic police also shared that Kennedy-Annadale road blocked due to fallen tree while NH-705 Theog-Hatkoti road is blocked due to landslide near Chalnair.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall for Himachal Pradesh during the next two days, officials said as reported by ANI. The weather department has also also issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall of 115.6 to 204.4mm rains in the hilly state on 24 August.
The Government of Himachal Pradesh has declared the whole state as a 'natural calamity affected area'. According to the latest information provided by the state government, the total monetary loss in Himachal has reached ₹10,000 crore so far due to the heavy rains. A total of 2,022 houses have been fully damaged, and 9,615 houses have been partially damaged, with 113 landslides occurring in this year's monsoon season. A total of 224 lost lives in the monsoon fury while 117 people died in road accidents in the state so far, according to the government bulletin.
(With inputs from agencies)
