Himachal cloudbursts: Death toll rises to 11, searches on for over 40 missing

Shimla: The death toll due to flash floods triggered by cloudbursts in three districts of Himachal Pradesh has increased to 13 with the recovery of four bodies from Mandi and Shimla districts on Sunday.

Over 40 people are still missing after a series of cloudbursts occurred in Kullu's Nirmand, Sainj and Malana, Mandi's Padhar and Shimla's Rampur subdivision on the night of July 31 and wreaked havoc.

The bodies of Sonam (23) and three-month-old Manvi were recovered from Rajbhan village in Padhar area of Mandi district, officials said.

Later in the evening, two bodies were recovered near Dhakoli on the banks of Satluj River in Rampur. They are yet to be identified, Shimla SP Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi told PTI.

Rescuers have intensified the search operation by deploying more machinery, sniffer dog squad, drones and other equipment, the officials said.

Even as the rescue operations are still underway, locals claimed that there is no electricity in three villages -- Samej, Dhara Sarda and Kushwa located on the border of Shimla and Kullu -- since the tragedy struck.

According to the officials, 410 rescuers from teams of the Army, NDRF, SDRF, ITBP, CISF, Himachal Pradesh Police and home guards are involved in the hunt.

Four more JCB machines have been deployed and the rescue operations are going in full swing. As the flow of water has reduced, now machines have reached the spot where the missing persons could be possibly found, Up-pradhan Sarpara C L Negi said.

Over 30 people are missing in Samej village in Gram panchayat Sarpara in Rampur subdivision.

There is no light in three villages since the flash floods happened on Wednesday night and roads have also been damaged, said Megva Devi, a villager.

Meanwhile, former chief minister and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur visited Samej village today and took stock of the situation and met the disaster affected people.

The state government on Friday announced an immediate relief of Rs 50,000 for the victims and said they would be given Rs 5,000 monthly for rent for the next three months along with gas, food and other essential items.

The hill state has suffered a loss of Rs 662 crore since the onset of monsoon on June 27 till August 4. Eighty-five people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents, as per the state emergency operation centre.