According to officials, 74 people have died in Himachal Pradesh as a result of the rain, and another body was discovered among the demolished parts of a Shiva temple on August 17. 21 of these casualties happened as the result of significant landslides in Shimla, including those that hit the Summer Hill Shiva temple, Fagli, and Krishnanagar. Concerns have been raised regarding eight people who may still be buried under the demolished portion of the temple.
The body of P. L. Sharma, the chairman of the mathematics department at Himachal Pradesh University, was found on August 16 in the Summer Hill landslip near Shimla, said Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi, as reported by PTI. The state emergency operation centre said that two further rain-related deaths—one caused by a person falling from a height and the other by drowning—were reported in the Chamba district, bringing the four-day death toll to 74.
Over the last three days, several areas have experienced lesser precipitation after experiencing significant downpours. 217 individuals have died in Himachal Pradesh as a result of rain-related incidents since the monsoon arrived on June 24.
At the Shimla landslip sites, work is still being done. The Indian Army, Air Force, and other personnel have carried out rescue operations, rescuing 309 persons from flood-affected villages in Fatehpur in the Kangra district and Pong Dam in Indora. Over the last three days, 2,074 people have been rescued in total.Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the chief minister, visited flood-affected areas to reassure them of the government’s unwavering assistance. According to Principal Secretary (Revenue) Onkar Chand Sharma, the losses during the monsoon season have topped 7,500 crore.
Schools in Shimla city were closed on Thursday due to to the damage. 1,135 transformers, 285 water supply schemes, and 875 roadways are still blocked. According to Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, it might take a year to reconstruct the infrastructure, which was seriously damaged by the intense rainfall. He calculated that both of the most recent heavy rain episodes caused losses of roughly Rs. 10,000 crore. The administration wants to speed up the restoration effort and complete the infrastructure reconstruction within a year.
Through the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, the central government has granted $2,643 crore for this fiscal year, which will be used to upgrade 254 rural roads, according to Public Works Department Minister Vikramaditya Singh. The state government eased restrictions on using the MLA local area development fund in order to speed up relief efforts. Now, MLAs are permitted to set aside 2.10 crore each year for initiatives like building retaining walls and channelizing nullahs.
