Rain Fury — 'Death Better Than This Nightmare': Landslide Victims In Himachal Pradesh

A landslide on the morning of 23 August had partially destroyed Prari House, which Promila shared with her sick mother near Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital (IGMCH).

Representational Image.

Source : PTI

"Death would have been better than going through this nightmare with nowhere to go and no shoulder to cry on," admits Promila, who lost everything when the room she was staying in collapsed in a landslide in Himachal Pradesh, news agency PTI reported. A landslide on the morning of 23 August had partially destroyed Prari House, which Promila shared with her sick mother near Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital (IGMCH).

Speaking about her plight with PTI, she stated: "I live with my 75-year-old mother who is suffering from ovarian cancer and has been undergoing treatment since 2016. I also lost my job as a sales girl in a shop in Ram Nagar in the city market last week due to the recession as there were no customers."

"I slept at IGMCH on Thursday night because I had nowhere else to go," adds Promila, who has no siblings or father and is divorced from her husband.

"I am desperately looking for a job and am willing to even clean and sweep as I am in dire need of money for my mother's treatment," she stated, adding: "My mother is all I have." Promila has studied till class 10.

"We could not salvage our belongings and the only thing left is the clothes we were wearing while running out of the collapsed house," recalls Suman, whose room was opposite to Promila's.

Suman, a domestic worker, claims she has lost everything in the landslip and is unable to pay her son's school tuition.

She claims they have no home, no clothes and that the landslip ruined her son's Class 5 textbooks.

"Our plight is miserable but it did not attract the attention of the authorities as no casualty was reported in this landslide. What is the use of getting so many donations, if the state government cannot help the disaster victims," she was quoted by PTI in its report.

"We had food at a gurdwara and are shuttling between our relatives' houses, but we have not received any help or immediate relief," she added. 

Shimla has had many landslides in recent weeks, with the district's rain-related event toll climbing to 26, including 17 deaths in the Summer Hill landslide, five in Fagli, and two in Krishna Nagar.

As many as 120 people have perished in rain-related accidents in the state this month, bringing the total to 238 deaths and 40 missing since the start of monsoon in Himachal Pradesh on June 24.

This monsoon brought three distinct bouts of heavy rain to Himachal Pradesh.

The first, on July 9 and 10, caused widespread devastation in the Mandi and Kullu regions.

Shimla and Solan districts were affected by the second spell on August 14 and 15, while Shimla city was severely damaged by the third spell on Tuesday night.