The orgy of rain continues in Himachal Pradesh. When the devastating rains wreaked havoc on Independence Day, my six-year-old daughter asked, “Papa, will we also die, will our house also collapse.” Hearing the loud noise, our family came out. Barely 100 meters from our house, there was a hue and cry as the edge of a hill slid across a rivulet. Some multi-storey houses, some temporary houses and a slaughter house were buried under the debris. When this landslide happened in Krishna Nagar area, our daughter was already upset. Two girls, studying in Nursery and Class II in her school, died on Monday when a Shiv temple in Summer Hill area collapsed due to a landslide.
But for us the landslide near the house was more heart-rending, even though the casualties were much less compared to the Shiva temple. Cracks had started appearing in the houses of Krishna Nagar and most of the people had vacated the houses hours ago. When I reached the spot after a few minutes, people who had lost their homes were crying. A woman was running here and there barefoot in search of her husband. A worker in the slaughterhouse was looking for his manager. The rescuers were having a lot of trouble in rescuing the people as the mud was continuously falling.
She was sobbing…
People affected by the landslide whose houses were still intact started leaving and took whatever they could carry. A little girl was holding a bag and was sobbing. A man carried his old mother on his shoulders. I left to report. There is no electricity in my home-office and other areas of Shimla since two days and I wrote the news on my phone. The phone had to be charged repeatedly with the charger installed in the car. Later a police officer told me that two bodies were pulled out of the debris. One of them was beheaded.
More than 30 people died in Shimla district
Himachal Pradesh’s capital Shimla is telling the story of devastation due to three days of rain. Landslides have also occurred at other places. The city is littered with fallen trees and downed power lines. Roads have developed cracks and many buildings are in danger. Cart Road in Shimla is blocked due to landslide, due to which some dilapidated buildings are feared to collapse. The Mall Road is deserted and tourists are absent. More than 30 people have died in Shimla district. The death toll in three days of rain has crossed 70 on Wednesday and more bodies are feared to be buried under the debris.
CM calls for setting up more weather stations
Here, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu directed the officials to work on the plan to set up more Weather Stations (AWS) in the state so that ‘real time’ data related to weather forecast could be obtained. At present there are 23 AWS at various places in the state including Shimla, Dharamshala, Dalhousie and Kufri. A statement issued here on Thursday said that while presiding over a high-level meeting held in Shimla late on Wednesday, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu directed the concerned departments to take appropriate steps to increase the number of AWS.
He stressed on setting up a meteorological observatory center in the state. The Chief Minister said that effective steps should be taken to strengthen the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and provide them with updated equipment and technology during emergency situations. Sukhu said more hi-tech machinery is needed to lift and cut heavy structures to rescue people trapped below in case of any accident. He said that the situation arising due to rains in the capital recently is an example of this. He directed the officials to arrange for an additional helicopter to airlift the seriously ill patients in Kullu.