Heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh claimed 16 lives, including four of a family, while hundreds of people were stranded across the northern state after heavy rains triggered landslides, snapping road links, officials said yesterday.
A government advisory advised people to avoid travel as the weather officials warned of heavy rains in the state till today and thereafter on August 16 and 17.
Four members of a family were killed in a landslide in Kandaghat subdivision in Solan district. A boy was washed away in the swollen Kaushalya river near Parwanoo in the district. At least eight people lost their lives in rain-related incidents in the district.
Landslides led to the death of three people in Mandi district, while road traffic was disrupted for hours on the Chandigarh-Shimla, Shimla-Nahan, Chamba-Pathankot and Mandi-Pathankot highways.
Additional Chief Secretary Manisha Nanda said that 923 roads were closed due to landslides, including six National Highways, and that men and machinery had been pressed into service to open these roads to traffic as soon as possible.
Presiding over a review meeting on the damage caused by rains, Chief Secretary Vineet Chawdhry said the state had released Rs96.50 crore for relief and rescue operations.
As a precautionary measure, all schools and educational institutes in the state will remain closed today too.
The water level in the Beas river rose dramatically, touching the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway 21 near the Hanogi temple. Traffic on the stretch was suspended.
All trains on the Kalka-Shimla route were cancelled due to landslips.

Hero dog saves Kerala family

A family in the flood-ravaged Kerala narrowly escaped death after their pet dog woke them up moments before a landslide destroyed their home, local media reported yesterday. Mohanan P and his family were sleeping at home in the mountainous Idukki district when their pet dog started barking raucously at around 3am, waking the household. “That’s when we realised something was wrong. I went out to see and we had to just rush out of the house,” Mohanan said. As soon as the family rushed out the landslide ploughed down a nearby hill and demolished their home. The family, dog in tow, have since moved to a government-run relief camp nearby.




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