Himachal rains: ‘Orange’ alert issued for several districts, J.P. Nadda takes stock of situation

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief J.P. Nadda and Union Minister Anurag Thakur has arrived in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday to take stock of the situation after rain havoc in the state.

In the wake of the recent floods and landslides, over 70 people have lost their lives and many had lost their homes as well.

Nadda is set to visit the rain-battered districts including Shimla and Bilaspur. He will assess the relief and rehabilitation work underway at the havoc-hit areas.

“Will provide all possible aids from the Centre,” said Nadda while visiting the affected regions.

“I got a chance to come here and visit the places affected due to heavy rains and floods. I am saddened by the loss that this calamity has caused. All efforts are being done by the administration to provide all the necessary help to those relocated…" Nadda was quoted by ANI.

While addressing the media, Nadda said that the floods and rains in Himachal Pradesh is a matter of concern for the Government of India. “GoI has taken the matter very seriously...first installment of Rs 180 crore from the disaster fund was released on July 10 and the second installment of Rs 180 crore was also given on July 17,” he said.

Nadda also added that a total of Rs 622 crores have been provided to the state government of Himachal Pradesh. 20 teams of NDRF are at the spot for rescue operations, 2 ITBP companies, 3 Air Force helicopters have rescued over 1,000 people.

Nadda will be visiting Sirmaur district, where landslide had claimed five lives due to recent cloudburst.

In the recent temple collapse incident, the death toll rose to 17.

A total of 78 people were killed in the recent rain havoc that lashed out in the state. According to Shimla SP Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi, 23 deaths were reported from three major landslides that occurred in various areas including Shimla.

Also, in the recent development the state government has allotted Rs 7.34 crore for the police department to carry out efforts to make the roads better. According to police records, over a thousand people lost their lives last year in road accidents.

Meanwhile, the MeT department sounded an ‘orange’ alert for six districts in Himachal for the next two days. Alerts were issued to areas including Manali, Shimla and Solan. ‘Heavy to very heavy rainfall’ was predicted by the Met department in several districts.

Rain is set to intensify in Champa, Himirpur and Una for the next two days, said the weather department.