Six killed in Himachal landslides, flash floods; commuters stranded on highway

Six people died and 10 people were injured in heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh that triggered landslides and flash floods in several places in the state, according to official estimates.

Onkar Chand Sharma, Principal Secretary, Disaster Management, Himachal Pradesh, on Monday said, “Six people have died till now and around 10 people are injured. A total of 303 animals have died. The complete report is still awaited.” The loss due to rain is expected to be Rs 3 crore, while 124 roads have been damaged, which includes two national highways,” news agency ANI quoted the official as saying.

Traffic woes

Meanwhile, hundreds of commuters spent a harrowing night on the road, sleeping in vehicles and roadside eateries, after being stranded overnight in Mandi district in Himachal Pradesh as flash floods and landslides blocked a key highway.

Also read: Cloudburst, heavy rain in parts of Himachal flood houses

A few of them openly blamed the authorities for not warning them in time about the blockade near Aut on the Manali-Chandigarh highway that has forced hundreds of cars, SUVs and buses to halt on the roads without help.

Flash floods hit Khotinallah near Aut on the Pandoh-Kullu stretch due to heavy downpour. The commuters got stranded since Sunday evening. The Mandi administration said restoration work was on and explosives were being used to blast heavy boulders blocking the National Highway-21, which is expected to reopen for traffic in seven-eight hours.

Some of the stranded commuters, particularly those with children, complained bitterly. The number of stranded varied from 200 to 500. “We have been struck since last evening as the road is closed leading to a traffic jam. A large number of vehicles are stranded on both sides of the roads at Aut,” said Prashant, who was returning to Mandi from Chandigarh.

More rains

Moderate to heavy rains have also lashed Kangra, Mandi and Sirmaur districts in Himachal Pradesh. Dharamshala in Kangra got 106.6 mm of rain followed by Kataula 74.5 mm, Gohar 67 mm, Mandi 56.4 mm, Poanta Sahib 43 mm and Palampur 32.2 mm.

With the traffic jam reportedly stretching to 15 long kilometres, no one seems to be very sure when things will be normalised. Sohail Yousuf and Azaz Hasan, who are from Delhi, were on their way to the Bhuntar airport when they got caught up in the blockade.

“Multiple landslides took place between Mandi and Sundar Nagar. At 10 pm, police stopped us and asked us to go back. The traffic jam here is at least 15-km long,” Hasan told NDTV. “No tourist here was prepared for this. There are families, kids. Some have booked whole buses. Some are waiting at dhabas. No one could find a hotel room. They are worried for their children,” he added.

Also read: 19 injured in bus accident in Himachal’s Kinnaur

Hasan said there should have been a system in place to inform people before they approached the blockade. “We left at noon yesterday and reached here around 10 pm. So, we drove for about five hours after the landslide and we had no clue that it had led to this road blockade. And we are stopped here. By then, there was already a six-kilometre-long traffic jam,” he said.

Commuters bitter

Adesh Katyayan, another tourist trapped by Himachal’s rough weather, said at least 500 cars were stranded on the route he took and a lot of people spent the night on the road.

If all this was not enough, the weather office has warned of more rains and thunderstorms in Himachal over the next two days. The MeT office has issued an alert for heavy rain, thunderstorm and lightning at isolated places on June 27 and 28 and thunderstorms coupled with lightning from June 27-29.

(With agency inputs)