The Hindu : 40 killed in Himachal cloudburst, flash floods

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 17, 2003

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40 killed in Himachal cloudburst, flash floods

By Kanwar Yogendra

SHIMLA JULY 16. About 40 persons were killed in flash floods caused by a cloudburst at Shilagarh in Gursa area of Kullu sub-division, 265 km from here, early today, according to Government sources. (The State Government in a press release late tonight said 20 to 25 persons were missing. Sixteen bodies have been recovered. The release said that out of 23 persons admitted to the Zonal Hospital, Kullu, one succumbed to his injuries. Unofficial sources have put the toll between 150 and 200)

The Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh, making a statement in the Assembly earlier in the day, said there were about 250 persons at the site at the time of the cloudburst, but so far only 22 persons have been brought for treatment to the Kullu Hospital.

Officials said there were 300 to 400 workers, mainly of Nepalese and Bihari origin, camping at Gursa in two different camps. Since the flash floods came when most workers were sleeping, the chances of survival were not very high.

A majority of these labourers were working for a construction company building the 2100-MW Parvati Hydel Project in Kullu, being executed by the National Hydro Electric Power Corporation (NHPC).

The exact location of the cloudburst was at Rauli, where a small bridge was under construction across the Gursa nullah, a tributary of the Beas. Two bridges and machinery worth lakhs were washed away.

According to a local sub-contractor for the construction company, many of his 40 workers were missing. They even had their families with them. Some of the petty contractors along with their groups of workers, each comprising 25 to 30 persons, have also been washed away.

The Chief Minister said the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police of Kullu and officers from the PWD and Fire departments had reached the site for organising relief and rescue operations. The ITBP Battalion at Kullu, which had been given the task of "first responder" for natural and man-made disasters in the Himalayan areas by the Ministry of Home Affairs, had also been called upon to assist in disaster mitigation.

Rs. 10-crore loss

PTI reports:

Meanwhile, the NHPC has estimated a loss of about Rs. 10 crores due to damage to the machinery and bridges at the power project.

"Work has been stopped temporarily at the site... We are hopeful of resuming the work within two to three days,'' the NHPC Chairman and Managing Director, Yogendra Prasad, told PTI from New Delhi. No NHPC employee died in the incident.

PM condoles deaths

UNI reports from New Delhi:

The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, today condoled the deaths of the people killed in the cloudburst. In his message, Mr. Vajpayee, who is on a visit to Kolkata, expressed his sympathies to the members of the bereaved families.

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