42 dead as rain plays havoc in HP

Shillong, September 20: Heavy landslides and uprooting of trees after incessant rain in the last 48 hours have resulted in the death of 42 people in Himachal Pradesh. Shimla district alone reported a toll of 38 deaths from the town and sub-divisions like Rohru,Theog and Chopal. One person was killed after a landslide in Anni and five in Nahan.

Normal life in Shimla town was paralysed on Friday as landslides and falling trees blocked the main roads. With 13 houses collapsing or getting buried under the trees and debris of hills, the inmates had a narrow escape although a few instances proved fatal.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal himself monitored the developments during the day. While the local authorities were hard at work trying to clear the blocked roads, residents had a difficult time, with most of them either stuck midway or compelled to take an alternative route. Vehicular traffic on the Kalka-Shimla National Highway remained blocked for most of the day and could be opened partially only late in the afternoon. The electricity supply in the town also remained affected with half of Shimla plunged in darkness till late Friday night with similar power outages surfacing on Saturday.

The worst hit was Shimla’s Ridge area where the Tibetan Refugees’ market just below the Ridge was washed away. After cracks surfaced on the Ridge on Saturday half of it was cordoned off. A tree fell on a house in the area, killing 14-year-old Astha and her grandfather Lal Singh. Shimla Mayor Narendra Kataria said the slide was triggered off due to dumping of debris by the PWD a few months ago.

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