Himachal rain fury: Shimla landslide toll rises to 17, three still missing

SHIMLA: After the tragic landslide in the Summer Hill area of the rain-battered Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh on August 14, security and disaster relief forces continued their search operation for the seventh consecutive day.

The toll in Monday's temple collapse incident increased to 17 with rescue teams recovering one more body on Sunday.

"Today is the 7th day of the search and rescue operation at Summer Hill area. So far, we have recovered 17 bodies, and we are searching for other three victims. Teams of SDRF, NDRF and Indian Army are present at the spot," Roop Sharan, an inspector with NDRF said.

"We are putting in our best efforts & hoping to retrieve the other victims," he added. Virender Thakur, a local counsellor from the Summer Hill ward of Shimla Municipal Corporation said that rescue teams deployed at the site are carrying out the search operations.

"The search operations seem difficult for the teams out at the site, the machines brought over here for the rescue efforts are unable to reach down the site, so all the rescue work is being conducted manually by the rescue teams," Thakur pointed out.

In the unfortunate incident, the Summer Hill area's ancient Shivabari temple collapsed due to a landslide on 14 August. Several people died and others were trapped under the debris, as 20-21 people of being reported missing after the incident.

Officials engaged in the search operations had on Saturday said that so far 16 bodies have been retrieved from debris as the joint team of district police, Army, Sdrf, NDRF, and fire department deployed in segments continued their search operation for the sixth consecutive day.

"We have identified some areas which may be vulnerable to landslides and tree collapse and people from these areas are being evacuated to safer locations," Superintendent of Police Shimla, Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi, had said.

Fixed areas of responsibility have been given to them where they are carrying out the search operations, he added. After the massive landslides and the subsequent mishap, locals and visitors worried that the calamity posed a threat to the iconic building of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS).

"The landslide destroyed the Shivabari temple. The landslide happened at the backside of the campus," SDM Shimla (Urban), Bhanu Gupta had said. After the massive landslides, district administration authorities started shifting residents of affected areas to safe locations, and shifted around 250 people from landslide-affected areas including Krishana Nagar, Downdale, and Fagli, to safe places in the next three days.