Normal life has been thrown out of gear in Himachal Pradesh due to heavy rains that have triggered flash floods, landslips and damaged roads on Tuesday. Over 21 people were killed when a State roadways bus fell into a deep gorge in Kadharghat near Sunni, about 60 km from Shimla.
Only 10 bodies have been retrieved by the police so far. The number of deaths could go up since some of the injured are reported to be very serious, according to the police. The bus was going from Shimla to Sawarghat in the afternoon. State Transport Minister G.S. Bali has ordered a magisterial enquiry into the incident.
In another accident at Nihana in Theog-Balsan a packed Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation bus veered off the road and more than 60 passengers sustained injuries. Though no casualty was reported, some of the seriously injured passengers have been admitted to the Indira Gandhi Medical College and State Hospital in Shimla, said the officials.
Extreme fog and slippery roads is believed to be reason for the buses skidding off the narrow mountain State highways.
Meanwhile, two minor girls were washed away in a swollen rivulet in Kangra district when they were having a splash in the morning. At least 24 students were stranded in a high school building after sudden flash floods erupted in Mandi district.
At least a dozen villages have been cut-off from the rest of the Kullu-Manali district after a clouddburst in Nirmand area. Stretches of roads and big portions of apple orchards have been washed away at some places in Kullu, the second largest producer of apples after the Shimla district in Himachal. Chopal tehsil in Shimla also witnessed cloudbursts and flash floods. Fruit orchards and forest lands there were reportedly damaged. A flash flood was also reported from Janerghat near Chail where some builders were illegally dumping debris from the construction site of a hotel resort in the nearby stream. “The unauthorised dumping by the real estate developers with the connivance of local forest and PWD officials has blocked the water sources and are responsible for such havoc during the monsoon,” said president of State Kisan Sabha Kuldip Tanwar.
Uprooted trees severed power transmission lines and damaged the poles leading to power cuts in several areas in Shimla for at least 24 hours, an official said.
