New Delhi, Sep 4: Incessant and torrential rains battered the northern states on Thursday, with Himachal Pradesh reeling under the natural disaster ever since the onset of monsoon and Delhi getting impacted due to the rising water levels of the Yamuna river.
Educational institutions have been shut down, normal life has been adversely affected and business has come to a standstill due to the heavy rains and flood-like situation in states like Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh.
Two houses collapsed following a landslide in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district on Thursday, leaving one person dead and six more buried under the rubble, officials said.
A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescued three people, including a woman, and recovered one body.
Incessant rains in the past three-four days have triggered landslides at several places and three people have been rescued, one body recovered while search is on for six people buried under the rubble of the house in Akhada Bazaar, Deputy Commissioner, Kullu, Torul S Ravish said, adding rains are obstructing the rescue work.
A total of 1,292 roads are closed in the state. While 294 were blocked in Mandi, 226 are in Kullu, 216 in Shimla, 204 in Chamba and 91 in Sirmaur district, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said.
The local Met office has issued a yellow alert for thunderstorms and lightning in isolated places in the state on Friday and Saturday.
Since the onset of monsoon in Himachal on June 20, the state has witnessed 95 flash floods, 45 cloudbursts and 127 major landslide incidents.
At least 343 people have died in rain-related incidents and road accidents, while 43 are missing since the monsoon began.
The state has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 3,690 crore this monsoon so far, according to official data.
The Kashmir valley was cut off from the rest of the country as all surface links, including the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, were closed for traffic on Thursday due to multiple landslides and the washing away of road patches due to rain. (PTI)
