At least 16 persons including a family of six have gone missing in Himachal Pradesh following torrential rains and flash floods having wreaked havoc in Mandi and several other districts in Himachal Pradesh.
Four deaths have already been confirmed in the state. Besides, several cattle heads having perished in extreme weather.
The flood caused by cloudburst in the Baghi Nala on the Mandi-Kataula-Parashar road in Mandi. Entire family has gone missing due to the floods, confirmed Sudesh Mokhta , Special Secretary, Disaster management department .
He said NDRF has been called in Mandi to assist the local administration to rescue and relief operations even as many parts of the state are completely cut off due to flash floods, washing away of major bridges, roads and also disruption of road communication because of landslides during the past 12 hours.
#WATCH | 2 killed, at least 15 missing after heavy rain #triggers #cloudburst, flash floods, landslides in several parts of Mandi district in #HimachalPradesh#Himachal #mandi #Flood #heavyrain #Monsoon2022 pic.twitter.com/u3vn4FHeEx
— Subodh Kumar (@kumarsubodh_) August 20, 2022
Local shops and vehicles have washed away while dozens of families have left their homes and spent the night in safe places after the cloudburst.
At the same time, floods of drains damaged dozens of shops and vehicles in Thunag Bazar, the home town of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. There has also been heavy destruction in Thunag Bazar.
People engaged in relief and rescue operations have found the body of a girl child while another 5 other members of the family which went missing after the cloudburst remain untraceable .
Floods are a common sight in several states across India in this monsoon season. While Uttarakhand's capital city Dehradun witnessed a cloudburst this morning, schools in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi and Kullu districts have been shut down due to incessant rainfall. #Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/tgrBuI91Bb
— WeJan (@WeJanNews) August 20, 2022
In the Gohar area of Mandi, 6 to 7 persons have been buried under debris .The rescue teams have reached the spot and started the rescue with help of the police.
There have been 26 cases of landslides and flash floods in the state. The schools have been closed in Kullu and Mandi district for the time being as massive losses have been reported to the public and private properties
Flash floods in Khoti nallah, near Pandoh have snapped the road communication between Mandi and Kullu on National Highway.
Around 20 houses have been flooded in the Balh area. NH 154 is blocked at several places.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Mandi Ritika Jindal has confirmed about rains leaving a trail of destruction and deaths in many parts of Mandi.
“The teams are at job to rescue the families and also provide them all necessary help. The NDRF teams have also managed to reach the spot despite road communication having been snapped from Mandi to Kataula Baghi” she said.
The MeT department has sounded a yellow alert in the Kullu district, where a series of cloud bursts had led to panic among the natives spending sleepless nights for the past one week.
Director General of Police Sanjay Kundu said in Shimla that natural calamities, mainly the rains, landslides, cloud bursts and flash floods have been on rise. The police have issued a travel advisory asking the tourists and also locals not to venture unnecessarily to vulnerable areas.
A railway bridge also got damaged on Pathankot-Jogindernagar narrow gauge track disrupting the movement of the trains. The videos of the bridge have gone viral on social media.
Also Read: Himachal Pradesh’s fragile ecology under stress–natural disasters surge during monsoons
