Shimla: Rivers in spate, bridges and houses washed away, and life brought to a screeching halt. As torrential rain continues to pound India’s northwest, Himachal Pradesh remains the hardest hit — according to official figures, rain that began on Saturday has claimed nearly 20 lives and is estimated to have caused a damage of at least Rs 3,000 crore.
On Monday, as rain continued to pound the state for the third straight day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to take stock of the situation, according to the government’s official spokesperson.
Rising water levels in the state’s major rivers — Sutlej, Beas, Ravi and Yamuna — has forced government authorities to evacuate nearly 200 people living on river banks to safer ground and halt major power projects, officials said.
Chief Minister Sukhu reviewed the situation in the state through an online meeting held Monday. In a statement released after the meeting, Sukhu said the state’s roads, irrigation schemes and other crucial infrastructure projects had suffered “extensive damage”.
“Initial estimate is around Rs 3,000 to Rs. 4,000 crore,” he said about projected damage caused to the state.
“Bailey bridges will be constructed to replace the damaged one. Efforts are underway to evacuate more than 300 locals and tourists stranded in Lahaul Spiti and Kullu,” he said. A Bailey bridge is a type of portable and prefabricated bridge that is relatively quick to erect and dismantle.
On Sunday evening, five people were buried alive in two landslides in Shimla’s Kotgarh and Theog, Shimla Deputy Commissioner Aditya Negi said.
According to official estimates, as many as 12 bridges — including the century-old Pandoh bridge and Aut bridge in Mandi — have been swept away in the rain, an official from the Himachal Pradesh Disaster Management Authority told ThePrint.
Flooding rivers have caused extensive damage in three districts — Mandi, Kullu and Shimla.
Government’s daily report also shows that nearly 1,000 roads were closed, among them the Shimla-Chandigarh national highway, which has been blocked due to landslides.
The torrent has also brought to a halt the state’s power generation system — according to officials, major power projects, including the state-run SVJN’s Nathpa Jhakri, were suspended temporarily because of rising water levels.
Principal Secretary Revenue and Disaster Management Onkar Sharma said efforts are being made to “restore normalcy”.
“We are monitoring the situation,” he told ThePrint, adding that 60 people have lost their lives during this monsoon season.
‘Rivers have become dumping grounds’
While Himachal continues to drown under what has been called unprecedented rainfall in the state, locals blame illegal dumping in the rivers for exacerbating the situation.
There are currently several ongoing projects in Himachal, including Kiratpur-Manali four-lane highway project — a major 197 km road connecting Kiratpur in Punjab to Manali in Himachal’s Kullu district.
Residents claim that debris of these construction projects are dumped into rivers like Beas.
“The Beas washed away a 100-year-old bridge. This is no ordinary incident,” Som Dutt, a resident of Nagwain in Mandi district, told ThePrint. “The river is full of debris from roads, highways and power projects. Beas has shrunk.”
It’s a view shared by a senior government official.
“Rains may have set a new record this year, but this was not the only reason behind the disaster,” a senior government official said. “The rivers are full of debris. Beas is an open dumping site for Kiratpur-Manali four-lane. This is what comes back to us.”
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Largescale damage to infrastructure
According to official data, over 4,500 transformers have been affected because of the rain, disrupting power supply across the state.
Also affected are the transport services — the state-owned Himachal Road Transport Corporation has suspended buses on 1,255 routes while 576 buses have been instructed to halt where they are.
“There are reports of damage due to rains,” HRTC Managing Director Rohan Chand Thakur told ThePrint. “We had to suspend some bus routes. The staff has been asked to stay where they are instead of risking lives. I have also spoken to some of them.”
In Shimla, one of the most-affected districts, arrangements are being made for people affected by landslides, officials told ThePrint.
“Situation is being monitored,” Shimla DC Negi said. “So far, there have been reports of people being stranded.
Floods, likewise, caused extensive damage in Kullu, Mandi, Kinnaur, Lahaul Spiti, Solan, and Sirmaur, government data shows.
According to Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Satwant Atwal Trivedi, the officiating Director General of Police, said rescue and relief operations were currently ongoing.
“Last night, we rescued five people who were stranded in a house on the bank of the Beas. Police have been making all possible efforts. This is yet not over, and we are alert. Control room has been set up. I’m personally monitoring the situation,” she told ThePrint, adding that three companies of the State Disaster Relief Force and 12 teams of National Disaster Relief Force with 25 personnel each were deployed across the state, and, along with police and the Home Guard, are conducting rescue operations.
But damaged roads and broken bridges remained a significant challenge to rescuers. Mandi Superintendent of Police Soumya Sambasivan told ThePrint, several bridges have been swept away, cutting off villages from the main district headquarters.
“We’re requesting people living by rivers to leave their houses. Adequate arrangements for lodging and food have been made,” she said.
The downpour has left several tourists stranded. According to acting DGP Trivedi, authorities are trying to rescue over 300 tourists who were stranded at Lahaul Spiti’s Chandratal Lake, where they were camping. CM Sukhu said in a statement Tuesday that rescue operations were ongoing there.
In Kullu, over 600 people pilgrims who were part of Shrikhand yatra and were camped at various places of the trek were brought to safety, taking the total number of such rescues to 1,200, Trivedi said. On Monday, the state government suspended the yatra — a Hindu pilgrimage that entails a trek of over 30 km — for two days.
Meanwhile, 70 pilgrims on their way to the Manimahesh Lake in Chamba are also being rescued, a senior official from the district administration told ThePrint.
The torrential rain is also reported to have damaged Himachal’s apple orchards, although a senior horticulture department official said the actual extent of the loss can only be assessed after the rain.
A MeT official told ThePrint rain was expected for the next 24 hours, especially in the areas of Shimla, Kullu and Mandi.
The Sukhu government has instituted a panel comprising Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi, Education Minister Rohit Thakur and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sanjay Awasthi to assess losses caused by the rain.
Power generation stopped
Heavy rain has also severely hit power generation in the state — according to officials, rising silt levels at Larji Dam near Aut in Kullu, Nathpa Jhakri, Rampur Hydroelectric Project and Bhakra Beas Management Board’s Dehar Hydroelectric Project have caused operations to be suspended.
At Pandoh dam in Manali, senior executive engineer Rajesh Handa said more than 2 lakh cusec water has been released — “the highest since 1995”.
Water levels at the Bhakra dam, too, rose significantly, reaching 1,615 ft against the capacity of 1,680 ft, an official from the state’s power department said.
This is an updated version of this story.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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