Himachal: Eight buildings reduced to rubble in Kullu landslide

KULLU: As many as eight buildings were fully damaged while two others were partially damaged after a landslide hit the Kullu district of the hill State, said an official on Friday.

According to Deputy Commissioner Kullu District Administration Ashutosh Garg the incident took place in the main market area of Anni town in Kullu on Thursday morning.

The Deputy Commissioner also said that there was no loss of human life in the landslide since the people were evacuated in time.

"There was no human loss in the landslide incident because the people had been evacuated by the authorities in time. The properties had started developing cracks over the past few days and the landslide was predicted," said Ashutosh Garg.

MLA Anni, Lokender Kumar said that the properties damaged in the landslide incident were worth crores of rupees and that there were no casualties since the area was evacuated a week prior to the incident.

"Crores of properties have been damaged in the landslide that hit the Anni town in Kullu on Thursday morning. The authorities had evacuated the area a week prior to the landslide. We have diverted the traffic from the area," said the MLA.

On Thursday, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescued 51 people who were stranded in cloud burst incident sites at Shehnu Gouni and Kholanala villages in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, said authorities.

The Himalayan State has reported widespread destruction and deaths due to heavy rains, landslides and cloudbursts reported from different parts of the State.

Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur on Thursday visited landslide-affected areas of Kuklah in Mandi district and urged the state Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to arrange rations for the people living in these areas.

"Keeping in view the huge loss due to heavy rainfall in the state, I have visited my constituency. A two-storeyed school building collapsed today and almost all houses have become unsafe as they have developed cracks. Around six people have lost their lives in one day," Former HP CM said.

The state has reported 113 landslides this monsoon season.

A total of 224 lives have been lost in the monsoon fury in Himachal while another 117 died in rain-related accidents so far, stated a government bulletin earlier.

According to the latest data shared by the state government, the total loss to the coffers from the ongoing rain fury has reached Rs 8014.61 crore since June 24, when monsoon arrived in the State.