Shimla: At least 21 people have been killed in Himachal Pradesh due to rain-triggered landslides and other weather-related incidents in the past 24 hours, a senior official said on Saturday.
According to the State Disaster Management Authority, 12 people have been injured and six are missing. Flash floods and other incidents were reported from 30 different locations in the state. There have also been reports that at least 15 houses were also damaged. Due to inclement weather, several transformers were damaged.
Other than this, the Chakki railway bridge connecting Pathankot to Himachal Pradesh also collapsed. So far, 225 people have lost their lives due to rain this year.
Meanwhile, the upward movement of pilgrims to Vaishno Devi temple has been stopped from Katra, in Jammu. Priority is given to pilgrims coming downwards. The police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have already been deployed and the situation is being monitored, the authorities said, adding that no untoward incident has been reported so far.
In Uttarakhand, the aftermath of the cloudburst on Saturday had intense repercussions as reports of heavy water flow damaging various roads came to the fore.
“We have received reports of water entering various premises and damage to roads in many areas. SDRF and NDRF carried out relief and rescue and restoration operations,” Commandant of SDRF Dehradun, Manikant Mishra said.
Earlier, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami inspected the affected areas in Sarkhat village in Dehradun's Raipur where a cloudburst incident was reported on Saturday.
Dhami ordered the State Disaster Management Department and other administration officials to be on the alert mode in a view of the devastation following heavy rainfall in the Garhwal division including Dehradun.
