At least 21 people have been killed and several others are feared trapped under the debris of a landslide in Shimla’s Summer Hill area of Himachal Pradesh. There have been incidents too. Shimla: A huge tree fell on the road near Shimla-Bilaspur National Highway, blocking the entire road while another road leading to Shimla was also hit by a landslide. Many houses and vehicles were also hit by the landslide, due to which people have reported heavy damage.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu said that the accident took place at around 8.30 am today in The Shiva Temple in Shimla. So far 5 bodies have been recovered. Around 20 to 25 people may be buried. Our effort is to save people alive. There have been 21 confirmed deaths. All the officers have been instructed not to go to the preparations for August 15 and save the people. It would be nice to save some people from here.
Floods and rains wreak havoc in Himachal
As many as 452 roads, including two national highways, have been blocked across Himachal Pradesh, with Mandi district having the highest number of 233 roads closed, while 60 roads in Shimla district have been badly affected due to the closure of these roads.
So many people have died so far
Dozens of villages and towns in Himachal Pradesh have been ravaged by floods, with many houses littered with debris and people struggling with drinking water. Between June 24 and August 12, 255 people lost their lives in Himachal Pradesh due to floods and rains, 935 houses have been destroyed so far, 7,758 houses have been damaged, and 87 incidents of landslides have also occurred.
Situation worsens in Himachal
It is obvious that it will not be easy for the Sukhu government of Himachal to deal with this disaster, although all the help is being provided by the central government, but from the beginning of July to August, the situation in Himachal Pradesh has become so bad that it may take a year for Devbhoomi to return to the same situation as before.