Himachal Cloudburst: Heavy Rain Halts Rescue Ops In Samej, IMD Issues 'Orange' Alert

Heavy rains are expected to continue battering Himachal Pradesh as the IMD sounded a yellow alert for Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, 'very heavy' rainfall will likely lash the state. 

Army undertaking search and rescue operations after cloudburst hit three districts in Himachal Pradesh.

Source : PTI

Rescue operations were hindered in Himachal Pradesh's Samej on Wednesday as heavy rains lashed the state where a series of cloudbursts killed as many as 16 people in Kullu, Mandi, and Shimla districts. The India Meteorological Department has issued an orange warning for the state implying very heavy rainfall on Wednesday. 

Heavy rains are expected to continue battering the state as the IMD sounded a yellow alert for Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, 'very heavy' rainfall will likely lash the state. 

The death toll due to flash floods triggered by cloudbursts reached 16 after two more bodies were recovered on Tuesday. 

In Mandi, rescuers recovered the body of one Khuddi Devi (46) during the search operation in the Rajban village while an unidentified body of a man was found at Dogri near Sunni in the Shimla district. 

#WATCH | Samej, Himachal Pradesh: Rescue team stuck due to heavy rain

Relief and rescue operations are underway in Rampur's Samej village after the incident of cloudburst that occurred on August 1 leaving at least 6 people dead. pic.twitter.com/I3XGqXm4Dk

— ANI (@ANI) August 7, 2024

Around 40 people have gone missing since the cloudburst that took place on July 31. 

Samej village, on the border of Shimla and Kullu, was worst hit by the natural calamity where over 30 people are missing. Six bodies were recovered from the spot which are yet to be identified and DNA samples of 37 relatives of the missing persons have been taken, reported PTI. 

As many as 410 rescuers from team of the Army, NDRF, SDRF, ITBP, CISF, Himachal Pradesh Police and home guards are involved in search and rescue operations which have been intensified with the deployment of more machinery, sniffer dog squad, drones and other equipment.

As per the PTI report, Himachal Pradesh has suffered a loss of Rs 684 crore since the onset of monsoon on June 27 till August 5. Around 87 people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents, as per the emergency operation centre.