Himachal Pradesh Flood Crisis: Air Force Helicopters Provide Relief Aid To Affected Areas

Kulu: Air force helicopters have delivered relief materials to the flood-affected regions in Himachal Pradesh , which have been severely impacted by heavy rainfall. Ashutosh Garg, the Deputy Commissioner of Kullu , stated that relief and rescue operations are being carried out on an urgent basis throughout the district.

He said, "Our relief and rescue work is being done on a war footing in the entire district. Around 1800 plus transformers were affected by the floods, out of which 50% have been restored by the Electricity Department . Road connectivity on the Manali-Chandigarh national highway via Kandi-Kataula road has been restored."

The situation in North India remains dire as torrential rains continue to cause landslides and flash floods. Himachal Pradesh has been the hardest hit among all the affected states, with a reported death toll of 91. According to government data, "91 people lost their lives in Himachal Pradesh from June 24 to July 13. 34 deaths occurred due to landslides, cloudbursts, and flash floods." Additionally, more than 1000 roads in the state remain closed, and over 5000 water supply schemes have been damaged.

The Indian Meteorological Department ( IMD ) has forecasted heavy rainfall in Himachal Pradesh starting from July 14, expected to persist for five days. Chief Minister Sukhu visited the flood-hit Thunag Sub-division in the Seraj constituency of Mandi district to assess the situation. He surveyed the severely affected Thunag market and announced financial assistance of one lakh rupees for each affected family. He also directed efforts to divert the Thunag rivulet to prevent similar incidents in the future. CM Sukhu further pledged to provide land for rebuilding houses that were swept away and instructed authorities to expedite the clearance of debris from the market. He interacted with the locals, assuring them of full support from the government.

CM Sukhu commended the administration and staff across various departments for their relentless work in restoring roads, power, water supply, and network connectivity. He tweeted, "We have successfully evacuated over 50,000 tourists from Himachal Pradesh in the last 48 hours, till 8 PM today. I would like to thank our administration and staff across various departments, who are working tirelessly and round the clock to restore our roads, power, water supply, and network connectivity."

Meanwhile, acting DGP Satwant Atwal Trivedi of Himachal Pradesh reported on Twitter that six Israeli tourists had been safely transferred to the town of Manikaran, while another 37 were in good health and safe at Barshaini. The police administration confirmed that 37 Israelis were stranded in Kasol, and an additional 294 tourists stranded in Chandratal were successfully taken to Losar on foot.

Considering the grave situation caused by incessant rainfall, the Education Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Rohit Thakur , extended the monsoon holidays for schools until July 16. Thakur stated, "The monsoon holidays have been extended till July 16 for the schools." Furthermore, the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Competitive (Preliminary) Examination, originally scheduled for July 23, has been postponed to August 20 due to the damage caused to roads by continuous rainfall.