Rescue operations were underway on Friday to trace over 45 people missing following flash floods triggered by cloudbursts in three districts of Himachal Pradesh, officials said on Friday.
With the recovery of three more bodies, the death count due to the flash floods in the Nirmand, Sainj and Malana areas in Kullu, Padhar in Mandi and Rampur in the Shimla districts of Himachal Pradesh has increased to eight.
While five bodies were found in Rajban village in Mandi, one was found in Nirmand in Kullu and two in Rampur in Shimla. The two bodies recovered in Rajban were identified as those of Aman (9) and Aryan (8), officials said on Friday.
Relatives of the missing persons are camping at the sites with hope fading with every passing hour.
"Bodies of my father-in-law and mother-in-law have been recovered but my son, my brother-in-law, his wife and their six-year-old son and two-month-old daughter are still missing," a wailing woman told PTI Videos.
"Fear of death kept us awake all night as we climbed to a mountain to stay safe," said another villager who came out after hearing screams to see houses swept in flash floods.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu along with Education Minister Rohit Thakur visited Samej on the border of Shimla and Kullu district to take stock of the situation and talk to the victims.
At the site of the Malana II power project in the Manikaran area of Kullu district, 33 stranded people were rescued on Thursday night and this morning, Deputy Commissioner, Kullu, Torul S Raveesh, said on Friday.
A wall and way to a tunnel were damaged due to rains and water entered the barrage but the teams of the NDRF and home guard managed to rescue the people.
Talking to reporters outside Parliament in the national capital, BJP MP from Mandi Lok Sabha seat Kangana Ranaut expressed anguish over the loss of lives in the cloudburst incidents, and said the life of people in the tough terrain is difficult and such disasters are adding to their pain every year.
"The prime minister and home minister have assured that relief would be given to the state. I am also going to different ministries in New Delhi to get help for Himachal and will visit the state soon," she added.
Personnel of the Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police, State Disaster Response Force, police and home guards are involved in the rescue operations and the help of drones is being taken to locate the missing persons, officials added.
The maximum damage was caused in Samej area of Rampur subdivision of Shimla district as a cloudburst near Shrikhand Mahadev route on Wednesday night triggered flash floods in Sarpara, Ganvi and Kurban nallahs. The cloudburst affected both Shimla and Kullu districts.
Three people are missing and 15 families are affected, DC, Kullu, who reached Samej (Kullu side), said.
Government primary and secondary schools where about 100 students were studying have been damaged and arrangements are being made to run the school at another location, she added.
Due to flash floods triggered by cloudburst, the water in Samej Khud in Shimla district's Rampur rose, leaving two people dead and over 30 missing, Shimla Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi had told PTI.
Mutilated body parts of two persons were recovered on Thursday, he added.
"We have to search in about a 100-km area, some of which is inaccessible, and drones are being used to locate the missing people," Gandhi had told PTI on Thursday.
According to reports, over 20 houses, six shops, four main and two foot bridges were washed after the cloudburst in the state and road connectivity has been hampered in the affected areas.
A flash flood warning has been issued for six districts of the state for Friday. According to the IMD statement, the districts at risk are Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Chamba, and Sirmaur.
Additional chief secretary of Himachal Pradesh Onkar Chand Sharma said an alert for heavy rain has been issued until August 2, with more alerts to be issued based on IMD data.
(With PTI inputs)
