Himachal Rain: NDRF Rescues 51 People After Cloudburst Leaves Them Stranded In Mandi Villages

Heavy rainfall in the Himalayan state has led to widespread death and destruction caused by rain-related incidents such as cloudbursts and landslides.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Thursday rescued 51 people who were stranded in cloud burst incident sites at Shehnu Gouni and Kholanala villages in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, said authorities. Heavy rainfall in the Himalayan state has led to widespread death and destruction caused by rain-related incidents such as cloudbursts and landslides. In a video shared by ANI, NRDF personnel were seen guiding people out of the remote areas and taking them to safer locations. 

On Thursday, several houses collapsed after a massive landslide struck the Kullu district. As per the news agency, 2,237 houses have been fully damaged and 9,924 houses have been partially damaged. Whereas 300 shops and 4783 cow sheds have been damaged, official data says. 

Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur on Thursday visited landslide-affected areas of his constituency Kuklah in Mandi district and urged the state Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to arrange rations for the people living in these areas.

While speaking to ANI, Thakur said that a two-storey school in the village collapsed and almost all houses have developed cracks, most of them are unsafe to live in. At least six people lost their lives in Kuklah on Wednesday. He said that during a conversation with CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, he urged him to arrange for rations in these remote locations which lost connectivity due to damaged roads.

This loss in connectivity has resulted in a shortage of rations. Thakur said that after seeing the condition of the roads in the area, it looked like it would take months to fix. 

Shops have run out of rations and since there is no storage facility because rations tend to go bad, especially during the monsoon season now there is an acute shortage of food in the area. "Since there is no connectivity to these areas, there is an acute shortage of food here, I requested the CM to arrange rations for the people living in these areas," he was quoted by ANI as saying. 

However, he said, he is hopeful because a chopper full of rations reached Mandi, and it is likely that several areas including Kuklah will be provided with rations. A consignment of food items and medicines were delivered by the Mandi District Administration to remote areas of the district with the help of Air Force helicopters.