Himachal Pradesh Cloudburst: Rescue Op Underway; At Least 44 Still Missing (image:x.com/PIBGangtok)

As four days passed since cloudbursts and flash floods hit three districts of Himachal Pradesh, more than 45 people are still missing. Among them, 33 people are missing from Samej village in Rampur sub-division in Shimla district. Meanwhile, two more bodies were recovered in Mandi’s Terang village, raising the number of rain-related deaths to nine—eight in Mandi and one in Kullu, Times of India reports.

A series of cloudbursts occurred in Kullu’s Nirmand, Sainj, and Malana, Mandi’s Padhar, and Shimla’s Rampur subdivision on the night of July 31.

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The search and rescue teams has escalated the operation by incorporating more machinery, drones, sniffer dog squads, and other instruments, officials told PTI. Multiple agencies, including 410 rescuers from teams of the Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force, Assam (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Himachal Pradesh Police, and home guards, were involved in the search operations, officials added.

Since the night when flash floods occurred, there has been no electricity in three villages: Samej, Dhara Sarda, and Kushwa, located on the border of Shimla and Kullu, locals stated. Roads have also been damaged, and a total of 87 roads are closed in the state. Besides, 41 transformers and 66 water supply schemes have been obstructed.

A yellow alert for heavy showers, thunderstorms, and lightning at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh was announced until August 8 by the local meteorological office. They have also forewarned of the possibility of landslides and flash floods in vulnerable areas and predicted damage due to strong winds, and waterlogging in low-lying areas.

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Since the arrival of the monsoon on June 27 until August 4, the state has suffered a loss of Rs 662 crore. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu revealed that the losses posed have included serious damage to infrastructure and other assets.