Shimla, September 25: After 36 hours, the traffic on the Chandigarh-Manali highway resumed on Tuesday morning as the water level of the Beas receded considerably at Dwada.
At Dwada, the Beas had submerged a portion of the road since Sunday. The Beas was flowing above the danger mark as higher reaches of Kullu district had received heavy downpour in the region in the past three days.
Earlier, incessant rain on Monday continued to pound Himachal Pradesh, triggering flash floods and landslides and claiming eight lives. Several roads, especially in Kullu, Mandi and Shimla, were washed away.
As the Chandigarh-Manali highway was closed, more than 300 tourists, BRO labourers and locals were stranded along the Keylong-Manali and Kaza-Gramphu road — among them five faculty members of IIT-Mandi.
The BJP MP from Hamirpur, Anurag Thakur, said 126 roads had been hit by landslides. Sources said those residing in low-lying areas, especially in Kangra, Chamba, Kullu and Mandi districts, were being evacuated.
In Kullu district, there were six deaths. Three persons were reportedly washed away in Manali when their vehicle plunged into the Beas. While two boys were killed when their scooter fell into the Parbati near Manikaran, 15-year-old Sultana was carried away by the Beas waters at Kullu. Tilak Raj was drowned in a rivulet in Kangra’s Jawali area. In Gagret, Una, a factory manager was buried alive after the factory collapsed.
With snowfall in the upper reaches for the third day in a row, the authorities issued an avalanche warning in Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, Pangi and Bharmour. Several portions of the Swarghat-Mandi and Shimla-Kalka national highway were damaged.
Around 1,200 students have been stranded at Holi village in Bharmour. Keylong SDM Amar Negi said the students were in the village for a tournament. “We also have reports of tourists, some of them foreigners, stranded near Jingjngbar, Batal, Koksar, Darcha and Sarchu areas of Lahaul-Spiti,” he said. The SDM said rescue operations had been hit as power and communication links were snapped. A news agency reported that 35 IIT-Roorkee students were among 45 persons missing in Lahaul-Spiti, though the district administration denied receiving any such information.
Source Tribune India
