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It will be a long battle to get back to normal life for Rain-swept Himachal Pradesh The government is stepping up efforts to restore basic infrastructure, including water supplies and road connectivity.
As of 10 a.m. Friday, 793 roads, five national highways and state highways were closed at various locations. According to the state’s disaster relief management department, a total of 1,468 electricity distribution transformers (DTRs) were still out of order while 963 planned water supply had yet to be restored.
Data shows that 261 roads remain closed in Shimla – the highest among the districts – making nearly 33 per cent of the total closed roads in the state. It is closely followed by Kullu (203 dead ends), Lahaul and Spiti (100) and Sirmaur (86). Mandi, among the hardest hit by rains and floods, now has only 32 roads still closed.
The state capital Shimla is again at the top of the list when it comes to water supply systems (WSSs) that are damaged. A total of 448 WSSs are yet to be repaired at Shimla followed by Mandi (258). The two areas together account for more than 73 percent of the total wastewater affected. Meanwhile, 810 power distribution transformers are out of order in Kullu, followed by 177 in Mandi and 158 in Shimla.
Although most of the damage occurred in Kullu, Mandi, Lahaul and Spiti districts, Shimla bore the brunt of the landslides. Of the total 53 landslides reported on July 13 in the state, 12 occurred in Shimla, three in Kullu and one in Mandi.
Meanwhile, after 60,000 tourists have been evacuated, police teams in the state have now shifted their focus and begun searching inaccessible areas with difficult terrain and low mobile connectivity to trace stranded people.
A number of tourists stuck in Kasol, Manikaran and other nearby areas refused to go out without their vehicles and decided to stay on their own for a few more days until the situation becomes normal and all roads are cleared.
The state is expected to experience heavy rain in isolated locations through July 18 with the local MeT office issuing a yellow alert. Light to moderate rains continued to lash some parts of the state and Kangra received 64mm of rain, Palampur (33mm) and Perthin (28.5mm).
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sokho asked authorities to clear roads in apple-growing areas before the start of the marketing season, and sought to explore alternative ways to transport produce from these areas.
Presiding over a review meeting on the ongoing post-flood restoration work, CM directed the officials to keep Theog-Rampur, Theog-Hatkoti, Rampur-Kinnaur and Chhaila-Neripul roads running with proper deployment of men and machines for smooth passage of traffic.
Sukhu, who has charged Rs 50 crore to the Public Works Department to purchase the required machinery, said there may be around two crore apple chests in the state in the current season, which is less than last year due to bad weather conditions.
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