Several Houses In Shimla Face Risk Of Sinking As Heavy Rain Continues To Batter Himachal Pradesh

Many houses in the Shimla district have developed cracks and are at constant risk of sinking due to incessant heavy rain in the region.

Amid the heavy rain, several families have already been evacuated to safer places as the situation is so grim that water and power supply was also cut off.

Source : PTI

Many houses across six panchayats in the Nankhari and Kotgarh areas of Shimla district in Himachal Pradesh are at constant risk of sinking due to incessant heavy rain in the region, said officials on Saturday. Deputy Commissioner Shimla Aditya Negi said non-stop rains over the past few days have caused the sinking of land in a few villages. Amid this, several families have already been evacuated to safer places, reported news agency PTI. The situation is so grim that water and power supply was cut off at multiple places and some houses also developed cracks after incessant rain.

Meanwhile, Negi said officials will request the geological experts to conduct a survey to find the reason behind the sinking of land in the affected regions.

Earlier, on Friday, a cloudburst occurred in the upper areas of Jaban in the Anni area of the Kullu district and triggered flash floods in Deori Khud. Later, officials said an alert was sounded and the people living along the river bank were shifted to safer places at midnight.

They said immense damage has been done to the due to the flash flood in orchards and many areas were inaccessible due to waterlogging.

Notably, a sudden surge in the discharge of water resulted in a flood-like situation in Kotu Nallah areas as well. Kullu Deputy Commissioner Ashutosh Garg said people have reported damages at some houses, private property, and cowsheds. However, he further said the situation continues to remain normal after the water level receded.

So far, no human casualty has been reported in this area. Another area of Shimla district such as Rampur was also battered due to heavy rain on Friday night. It also triggered landslides and blocked the National Highway 5 (Shimla–Kinnaur) at several points including Borni Nallah and Jeori besides links roads, reported PTI.

Many places witnessed disruption in water and power supply and some houses even developed cracks after the rain. A local MLA from Rampur Nand Lal said, as quoted by PTI, "Continuous rain over the past three weeks has made the situation grim. Relief and restoration works are in full swing.”

Meanwhile, locals are reported to be dreading more rain as the land is sinking and houses have developed cracks. So far 184 persons have died in rain-related incidents and road accidents in the state since the onset of monsoon on June 24. Notably, about 700 houses have been washed away in the rain, and 7,093 have been partially damaged.