Severe flooding and landslides strike Himachal Pradesh, causing widespread destruction

KULLU: In almost a repeat of last year’s monsoon disaster, cloudbursts, floods, flash floods, and landslides caused major havoc and devastation across Himachal Pradesh on Thursday.

At least two people died, over 50 people went missing, scores of houses and hydro projects were damaged, and a number of roads, including the Chandigarh-Manali and Manali-Leh highways, were blocked.

The cloudbursts struck in Kullu, Mandi, and Shimla districts, triggering flash floods and causing huge damage.

In Kullu, a cloudburst in the upper Malana glen of Parvati valley triggered a flash flood in the Malana rivulet that caused extensive damage to the Malana hydro project, stage-1 and stage-2.

As many as 35 people got trapped in the Malana hydro project, stage-1, and had to be rescued. A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and local police reached the dam site in the morning and rescued the trapped people, most of them project employees.

Chhape Ram Negi, a search and rescue expert and a local resident, who first sounded the flash flood alert on social media, told TOI that the flash flood struck around 3 am.

“We had never seen the Malana rivulet like this before. It was a scary sight. The flood has caused great damage on its way and at least 35 people got trapped in the hydro project.

The flood was so sudden that the project employees didn’t even get time to open the flood gates and had to run for their lives,” said Negi, who assisted in the rescue mission.

The massive flash flood also damaged a small hydro project on its bank near Malana, besides completely washing away the link road that connected Malana village with Bhuntar town. Downstream, the Parvati river was also in spate and caused a lot of damage. A fruit and vegetable market was washed away in Shat village near Kasol.

Elsewhere in the Kullu valley, a flooded Beas river washed away many stretches of the Chandigarh-Manali highway at Raison, 15 Mile, and Alu Ground. These stretches were washed away in last year’s floods also.

The water from the flooded Beas river also entered the fruit and vegetable market in Alu Ground near Manali.
The Manali-Leh road was also blocked near Palchan village due to a flash flood in a nullah.

At least 10 people went missing and around a dozen houses were damaged in a cloudburst in Jaon village of Nirmand area of Kullu district. The base camp of the annual Shrikhand pilgrimage was also damaged in the cloudburst. In Bagipul in Nirmand, a bridge and a bus stand were washed away along with at least a dozen vehicles in a flash flood.

Sainj and Tirthan rivers in the Banjar valley of Kullu were also in spate on Thursday and caused damage along their banks.

In Mandi district, at least seven people went missing and two persons died in a cloudburst near Thalukot village in Padhar sub-division.

The Chandigarh-Manali highway was also blocked at many places near Pandoh in Mandi due to landslides and flash floods. The Mandi district administration on Thursday ordered the closure of all schools for two days till August 2.

In Shimla district, at least 36 people went missing after a cloudburst struck in Samej village near Jhakri in Rampur sub-division. A hydro project in Samej has also suffered damage in the cloudburst. According to a district official, a search and rescue operation has been launched in the area.

Heavy rains have also caused extensive damage in Chamba, where at least eight vehicles were damaged in a flash flood in the Rajnagar area of the district.

It may be mentioned that the weather department had predicted heavy rainfall across the state on July 31 and August 1.

Meanwhile, an emergency meeting was called by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday morning to review the situation in the state.

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