CHANDIGARH/LUCKNOW: At least 61 more people were reported dead across North India following incessant rains, flashfloods and lightning strikes on Monday, 34 of them in Uttar Pradesh and 17 in Himachal Pradesh, which is the worst affected state so far.
More than 300 tourists are stranded in Himachal’s Lahaul-Spiti district amid snowfall. Efforts are on to rescue them. Rains hampered the clearing of massive landslides that snapped road links. The tourists have been put up in hotels and government accommodations by the local administration. Besides, tourists and locals in two state roadways buses have been stuck following a flash flood in the Pagal nullah near Sissu village in the Lahaul Valley as it blocked the Manali-Leh highway.
The initial estimate of property loss in Himachal Pradesh is around Rs 3,000-4,000 crore. The overall toll in the North included six in Haryana and four in Punjab. In UP, 17 got electrocuted due to lightning while 12 drowned. Besides, there were five other rain-related deaths in the state.
Most rivers in the North were swollen, with the Yamuna in Delhi, too, crossing the danger mark following the release of water from the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and assured all support. The Centre deployed 39 National Disaster Response Force teams — 14 in Punjab, 12 in Himachal, eight in Uttarakhand and five in Haryana — for the rescue and relief operations.
Sukhu said efforts were underway to evacuate the stranded tourists and residents in Lahaul-Spiti and Kullu districts using helicopters whenever the weather permits. In Himachal, five persons were killed in the Nirmand area of the Kullu district while five others died in the Shimla district in two different landslides. Also, the Shimla-Kalka highway was blocked near Shoghi due to a landslide.
Besides, rail operations on the Shimla-Kalka rail track were suspended as landslides blocked the track.
In Punjab, floodwaters entered the Nabha Thermal Power Plant near Rajpura in Patiala forcing the shutdown of one of its 700 MW units.
Army rescues 910 university students in Punjab
The Army rescued 910 students and 50 others from the flooded Chitkara University near Rajpura in Punjab. The flood relief columns of its Western Command worked through the intervening night of Sunday and Monday to evacuate them and helped prevent the breaching of canals by the flood waters, the Army said.
