The incident happened around 7.15 am when an aarti was going on at the Shiva temple in the summer Hill area.
At least nine people were feared dead after a Shiva temple in the summer Hill area of Himachal Pradesh’s. Shimla collapsed Monday morning amid heavy rain across the state. Details of the victims and their families are yet to be revealed.
The incident happened around 7.15 am when an aarti was going on, and according to locals, more than 30 people were inside the temple.
“As of now, nine bodies have been retrieved. The local administration is diligently working to clear the debris in order to rescue individuals who may still be trapped,” Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said as part of a Twitter post. With the rescue operations underway, the chief minister said at least 20-25 people are feared to be trapped under debris. Few teachers of Himachal Pradesh University Shimla, were also missing. This university is close to the Shiva temple and sources said that a few of them had gone to pay obeisance there.
The Himachal Pradesh meteorological department had already issued a yellow alert in the state for Sunday and Monday and predicted rain till August 19. But despite the warning, people gathered at the temple in numbers, leading to the accident.
Meanwhile, multiple tragic events have occurred in the hill state due to constant rainfall, resulting in districts being cut off from each other once again due to landslides.
In Solan, at least seven people were killed, and three others reported missing in a cloudburst in the Jadon village, said officials Monday. Two houses and one cowshed were also washed away, according to news agency ANI.
The continuous rainfall for around 55 hours wreaked havoc in the state as flooding, landslides, and falling trees damaged many houses in Mandi, Sirmaur, Shimla, Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Solan. At least a dozen vehicles were also damaged. Many houses are reportedly without electricity and water.
In another incident in Shimla, five houses collapsed in the Fagli area near Lal Kothi. Four bodies have been taken out from the debris and more people are likely to be trapped. In the Khalini area of Shimla, nearly a dozen uprooted trees fell on cars and crushed them.
A house collapse occurred in Chilar village within the Mandi district, trapping eight members of a family under the debris. Meanwhile, in Mandi Sadar town, a woman was swept away by the water, but authorities managed to rescue other members of her family according to information provided by Mandi officials.
A former panchayat samiti member Prabhas Rana and another person died while saving others in the Bahiganj area of Mandi. In the Neeri area of the district, it is believed that two people are under debris. While heavy rainfall in the Dharampur area has led to three people going missing.
In the Jadon village in the Kandaghat tehsil of Solan, a house collapsed at about 3 am, killing seven members of a family. “Rati Ram (a retired PWD boulder) was sleeping in another house located close by, which has been partially damaged, resulting in an injury to his leg.” His son Harnam, daughter-in-law, and their two minor kids died. His son-in-law Kamal and his two minor kids also died. “Nand Lal, a resident who reached the spot before the police, said that they shifted Rati Ram’s daughter Kamlesh (Kamal’s wife) to the medical college in Shimla and she is critical.”
“Rati Ram’s wife went to a relative’s house in some other village and was saved.” Rati Ram is in shock and not reacting to anything at all. This loss is colossal for him. His children and their families finished in a few minutes,” Lal added.
Meanwhile, in the Jadon village, about 55 residents are living in scattered houses.
Heavy rainfall resulted in the closure of 751 district roads till 8.30 am on Monday. Out of these, 115 are in the Shimla district. The disaster management department has released information indicating that a total of 4,697 distribution transformers have suffered damage, and 902 water supply schemes have been impacted in the state.
Heavy rain and landslides have led to the closure of National Highways 21 (in Solan), 05 (near Khab bridge in Kinnaur), 21 (on the Mandi Kullu route), and 02 in the state.
CM Sukhu appealed to residents and tourists to avoid areas prone to landslides.
He held a virtual meeting with all the district commissioners late Sunday evening. Following this, he declared a holiday for all schools, colleges, IT institutes, engineering, polytechnic, and pharmacy colleges for Monday. The authorities have also cancelled Postgraduate and BEd examinations.
CREDIT: THE INDIAN EXPRESS
