Rain fury in Himachal kills 71: Schools closed in Shimla, ‘Mountain-like challenge,’ says CM

Incessant rain that triggered landslides in Himachal Pradesh killed 71 people in the last three days with the state now facing a monetary loss of ₹75,000 crore in this year’s monsoon.

Redeveloping the infrastructure that got washed away in the rain will take at least a year, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said. “A mountain-like challenge is in front of us,” the chief minister said. A fresh landslide hit Shimla on Tuesday killing 2. The landslide hit Shimla’s Krishna Nagar and five to seven houses collapsed.

All schools closed in Shimla today

All educational institutes in Shima will remain closed on Thursday as roads are blocked owing to frequent landslides.

The state government has urged the Centre to declare national calamity in Himachal Pradesh.

More rainfall in Himachal than season’s average

Himachal already received more rainfall than the season’s average until August. In the 54 days of monsoon this year, the state received 742mm of rainfall against the season’s average of 730mm. The rainfall recorded in the state this July broke all records for the month in the last 50 years leading to the most devastating natural calamity in the last 50 years.

Himachal Pradesh rain: Indiscriminate construction to be blamed, says CM

Faulty structural design, and indiscriminate construction work being carried out by outsider architects who are not aware of scientific methods of construction in the hills are to be blamed for the landslides, the chief minister said, as quoted by Indian Express. Old multi-storied government buildings are standing tall without ever facing any danger, the CM added.

10 killed in Uttarakhand rain, landslide

Uttrakhand rain fury killed 10 so far while the administration rescued 293 pilgrims stranded on the trek route to Madmaheshwar temple since Monday in Rudraprayag.

Lakshman Jhula was hit by a landslide on Monday burying six people at the Night Paradise Camp resort in the Lakshman Jhula area in debris.

Punjab’s Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Rupnagar worst-hit by flooding

Punjab’s Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Rupnagar went under water owing to the release of excess water from the Bhakra and the Pong dams. The Gurdaspur district administration announced holidays in government and private schools in flood-hit villages till further orders while the authorities in Rupnagar declared holidays in schools and Anganwadi centres in the affected areas on August 17-18.