Shimla landslide: "Two dead...several were evacuated before houses collapsed"

SHIMLA: Two persons died while some are feared trapped after several houses collapsed in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla due to a landslide on Tuesday. According to officials, the landslide occurred at Krishna Nagar in Shimla.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who arrived at the spot, said that Shimla Municipal Corporation had evacuated several people after cracks developed in their houses. "One body has been retrieved while efforts are on to recover the other," he said.

A major mishap has been averted as Shimla Municipal Corporation had vacated the houses, where cracks developed. "Two deaths are confirmed, one body has been recovered, and the body of the other is being taken out," he told ANI.

Earlier, Himachal Pradesh ADG, Law and Order, Abhishek Trivedi said that a lot of people had already vacated the houses after they saw cracks in the establishments.

"Teams of ITBP, SDRF, district police and all others are present at the spot. A lot of rubble is there because the strata that fell from the top fell on the Municipal Corporation clutter house area which is completely collapsed. We were informed by the people that the area has already developed cracks," he said.

The senior police officer said that around 40-50 people were evacuated. "But we suspect around 5-10 people to be trapped. Rescue operation is underway," he said, adding that a rescue operation is underway. Meanwhile, an eyewitness to the landslide said 20-25 houses were vacated and around 50 people have been rescued and shifted to safer places so far.

"We noticed some cracks in the houses, others also gathered at the spot. We saw that the cracks were increasing and requested the residents to vacate their houses. Suddenly we saw several houses collapse.

Nearly 20-25 houses have been vacated and around 50 people have been rescued. and shifted to safe places," Bittu Panna, a local Councillor and the eyewitness said.

Heavy rainfall has wreaked havoc in Himachal Pradesh triggering landslides, cloudbursts and blocked roads. The Chief Minister said that yesterday 51 deaths were reported in the state, today 9 more casualties have been reported.

He said that roads are blocked so the educational institutes will remain closed tomorrow. Meanwhile, he urged people to leave their houses immediately if they cracks inside their establishments. "I request everyone, wherever they see cracks in the house, they should vacate their houses.

They will be provided full assistance from the administration, and when the house is damaged, financial assistance will also be given to build the house," Sukhu said. On Monday the chief minister said that at least nine people were killed and over 20-25 others are feared buried under debris after a temple in Shimla’s Summer Hill area collapsed following a cloudburst.

He said local administration is working to clear the debris and rescue those who were trapped. He also visited the Phagli area of Shimla City to personally oversee and extend a helping hand to those affected by a landslide in which several houses were reportedly buried. Meanwhile India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours in several parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Met department has raised “red alert” for both the hilly states which will gradually reduce to “orange alert”.