At least 293 people were stranded at Chandertal Lake area in the tribal district of Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul and Spiti, even as torrential rains relented on Wednesday, accelerating the rescue operations.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu conducted an aerial survey of Sissu, Chandertal, and Losar in the tribal Lahaul-Spiti district and Manali region of Kullu district to take stock of the destruction caused by the relentless rains.
“Though the situation was challenging in Chandertal due to heavy snowfall, the State government was ensuring the safety of all the 293 people trapped there who were staying in the camps. Most of the tourists and locals stranded in Spiti Valley have been evacuated and the rest of the people will be rescued shortly. The State government was making earnest efforts to provide all possible assistance to the stranded people and I am equally monitoring the situation,” Mr. Sukhu said.
He said the 52 school children of Kullu, who were stuck up at Sissu in Lahaul were safely moved out. “Apart from this, about 25,000 people had been safely evacuated from Manali and Kullu who were stuck up for the last three days at various locations. Around 6,552 vehicles have crossed Kullu towards Chandigarh till 4 PM, and as many as 3,000 people have been evacuated from Kasol and its suburbs,” he added.
Since June 24, following the onset of the monsoon, the State has till Jul 11, seen as many as 51 instances of landslides and 32 incidents of flash floods. At least 88 people have lost their lives in the rain-related incidents while 16 people are missing.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar conducted an aerial survey and announced a compensation of ₹4 lakh for the families who lost their members in the flash flood that occurred due to heavy rains across the State. He said the situation has become worse as the State has received above-average rainfall and water coming from Himachal Pradesh and Punjab has also aggravated the situation.
Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda also visited the flood-affected areas. He said that waterlogging is a massive problem and the government needs to work on a war footing to get the situation under control.
“If the government had taken precautionary measures in time, people could have been saved from this dreadful situation. The government did not properly get the stormwater outlets, sewerage and drains cleaned before the rainy season. If the government had fulfilled its responsibility in time, farmers’ crops, shopkeepers’ shops and people’s houses could have been saved from submerging to a large extent,” he said.
In Punjab, an official statement said that as many as 1,058 villages of 14 districts have been ravaged by the flood fury. During the past 24 hours, three people have died in rain-related incidents, it added.
Punjab’s Information and Public Relations Minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra accused the Haryana government of failing to clean the siphon built upon Ghaggar under the Hansi-Butana canal on time, which, he said resulted in massive water logging in villages of Punjab.
