Apart from Rs 4 lakh to the family of the deceased, also assured to help the families of disaster affected families.
Shimla, July 13 (IANS) | Five villagers stranded due to inundation following heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district have been rescued. Several houses and shops were damaged and one person died in a massive landslide triggered by flash floods in a remote village, rescue teams said on Tuesday. Nine people are still missing.
Officials told IANS over phone from the spot that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has rescued five people after an eight-hour operation that began late Monday evening. They fear that the nine missing persons may have either been trapped in a slush pile spread over a large area of the worst-affected Rulhar village of Boh panchayat of Shahpur subdivision or they might have been washed away by flood waters. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur conducted an aerial survey of the flood affected areas in Boh valley of Kangra district and later met the affected families.
He took stock of the damage done and met the affected families of the area. He directed the district administration to start relief and rehabilitation work on a war footing in the affected areas. Thakur said that Rs 4,00,000 would be provided to the families of the deceased and financial assistance would be given to those whose houses were damaged in the disaster. The Chief Minister said that a team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was coordinating the rescue and relief operations with the district administration and all possible efforts were being made to trace the missing people.
He also spoke to Sirmaur Deputy Commissioner Ram Gautam over phone and inquired about the evacuation of people trapped in the inundation of Giri river in Paonta Sahib subdivision. Kangra Senior Superintendent of Police Vimukt Ranjan told the media that the rescue operation is on. He said that 11 houses were either washed away or damaged in the flash floods. Four women are among the nine missing from Rulhar village. The Meteorological Bureau here has predicted heavy to very heavy rains in Kangra, Hamirpur, Mandi, Bilaspur, Shimla, Sirmaur and Solan districts in the next 24 hours. After that the intensity of rain may decrease.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) director Surendra Paul told the media that heavy rains could lead to landslides, flooding of low-lying areas, heavy downpours in drains and disruption of civic amenities.