NDRF rescues 51 from cloudburst-hit villages in Himachal Pradesh

SHIMLA — In another daring rescue operation, the 14th Battalion of the NDRF rescued 51 people who got struck after a cloudburst in two villages in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district, officials said on Friday.

As information received from the Sub-divisional Magistrate of Balichowki that villagers were trapped after a cloudburst in the Kholanal gram panchayat near the Hanogi temple, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team responded and left towards the incident site from Kullu.

Due to the landslide, the road was blocked in many places and the NDRF team moved on foot from Hanogi to the disaster spot.

The team covered eight km towards the incident site and reached Shehnu Gouni village to find that 51 people, comprising 20 women and 15 children, were trapped.

The team arduously rescued them and shifted to Hanogi village, an official told IANS.

Another team along with the SDM, the tehsildar and the Block Development Officer reached Kholanal village by trekking approximately 15 km and confirmed that all stranded people have been shifted to safe locations, added the official.

Meanwhile, huge cracks have appeared in houses at Thalaut village in Mandi due to torrential rains. Around 35 families in the village have left their houses and taken shelter in nearby areas.

Villagers blamed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the reckless cutting of hills in the area that led to the threat to the entire village. They said the entire area has become prone to landslides.

“The houses had developed minor cracks due to a landslide last year. In recent rain, the cracks widened, making our houses unsafe. So we moved to nearby places,” a villager told the media.