Rain triggers flash floods in villages near China border
The flooding did not cause any damage to life, says Kinnaur addnl dist magistrate
Unexpected rains triggered flashfloods, causing heavy damage to houses and farm land at Shalkar, a village in the cold desert near Chinaoccupied Tibet in Kinnaur district on Monday evening.
The flashflood damaged the road in the village besides crops in adjoining fields. It’s rare that a flashflood occurs in the cold desert region that receives scanty rain.
“Flashfloods in cold desert areas are rare. Fortunately, the flooding did not cause any damage to life,” said Kinnaur additional district magistrate SS Rathore said on Tuesday. “There are reports that a few houses were damaged and four vehicles are stuck in the debris. The damage to crops will be assessed,” he said.
The flashflood also damaged farm land, a footbridge and the cremation ground at Chango, another village on the China border. No loss of life was reported.
Rain triggered floods in Kinnaur’s Malling Nullah, damaging the strategic road connecting Reckong Peo to Kaza in Spiti valley.
The road is maintained by the Border Roads Organisation. Traffic is expected to be restored by Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a tremor measuring 2.8 on the Richter scale with its epicentre at Barjorhu in Mandi district was recorded on Tuesday morning. No loss to life or property was reported, director, State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), Sudesh Mokhta said.
National Highway 3 was also blocked due to landslides at Beeling in the Lahaul and Spiti district. The work to restore the highway for traffic was underway. The traffic remained suspended on NH 505 and NH 3 after the slush from the overflowing nullahs flooded the roads, said Lahaul and Spiti superintendent of police Manav Verma
In the Sanjauli locality of Shimla town, a residential building was vacated after the retaining wall below it collapsed. A total of six families lived in the complex. No loss of life has been reported in the incident.
A landslide was also reported on Solan-Kunda road in Solan .due to which the road was blocked and later cleared for traffic.
Landslide hits petrol pump site in Kangra, six labourers injured
Six labourers were injured after a landslide struck a petrol station construction site near Kangra Flour Mill on the Kangra- Tanda road on Monday night.
Police said the incident took place at 9.10pm. The labourers were admitted to Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda, from where one of the seriously injured has been referred to Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh.
The landslide occurred at the site where land was being excavated for the construction of a petrol pump.
Sources said the fields above the petrol pump site were filled with water for paddy plantation and may have triggered the landslide.
Among the injured labourers, four are from West Bengal and one each from Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
The seriously injured has been identified as Rajeev Kumar, 19, of Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal.