Bad weather conditions hampers airlifting of tourists from Chandertal

A chopper sent to Chandetral in Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh to evacuate stranded tourists had to return due to bad weather conditions, officiating Director General of Police Satwant Atwal said on Tuesday.

''Will try again as the cloud cover gives way,'' she said in a tweet.

The first evacuation sortie took off around 12 noon from Bhuntar but had to return due to bad weather and a thick cloud cover.

Atwal appealed to those stranded to stay positive and said all-out efforts are being made rescue them. ''We are reaching out to you. All the government agencies are working hard to rescue people,'' she said while appealing to people not to spread rumours.

The helicopter from the Indian Air Force (IAF) was requisitioned to airlift the tourists stranded at Chandertal, while a rescue team from Kaza has reached Kunzum Top and is just eight kilometres away from the lake, Principal Secretary, Revenue, Onkar Chand Sharma said.

Around 300 people, mostly tourists, are stuck in camps at Chandertal, located at an altitude of 14,100 feet, following rain and snowfall in the region.

''Two of them were facing breathing issues due to the high altitude and they would be airlifted,'' Sharma said.

All the stranded people would be evacuated to safe places by Tuesday night, he said, adding that about 100 people were rescued from different places in the hill state on Monday.

According to officials, about 800 people are still stranded at Chandertal and Pagal Nallah in Lahaul and different parts of Mandi. Two teams have been deputed for road restoration -- one from the Losar side and the other from Kaza. The team comprises members of the administration, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Border Roads Organisation (BRO), police and local villagers, the officials said.

Sharma informed that since the onset of monsoon on June 24, the state has suffered a loss of Rs 780 crore and the figure is expected to go up as excessive damage has been caused to roads, bridges and water supply schemes.

He also said monsoon has so far claimed 72 lives in the state.

As many as 1,239 roads, including the Shimla-Kalka and Manali-Chandigarh national highways, are blocked due to heavy downpour over the last three days, according to the state emergency operation centre. Bus service is suspended on 1,416 routes of the Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) while 679 buses are held en route, transport officials said.

The supply of essential items was hit in several areas of the hill state, including Shimla and Manali, as the Chandigarh-Manali and Shimla-Kalka national highways were closed following landslides, caving in of roads and flooding.

Several areas in Kullu and Mandi remained without electricity as 2,577 transformers were disrupted while the water supply was also affected in several areas, including state capital Shimla, as 1,418 water supply schemes have suffered damage.

Manali town and the adjoining areas remained cut off for almost a day as roads were blocked due to landslides. Mobile connectivity has also been disrupted.

The rains have stopped since Monday evening and the rescue operations and road restoration work have gained pace as the water level in the rivers has subsided, Kullu Deputy Commissioner Ashutosh Garg said. ''We are hopeful that mobile networks would start working in Manali during the day,'' he added.

Men and machinery have been deployed to restore road connectivity in Manali, Kasol and the Parvati valley and the Manali road would be cleared for light vehicles soon, Garg said, adding that relief camps have been set up in Kullu and Manali and those stranded are being taken care of.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu would visit Kullu, Lahaul and spiti and Mandi during the day, and conduct an aerial survey of the affected areas. There were also reports of landslides in Shamti, in the suburbs of Solan, damaging two houses and an office.

Meanwhile, following excessive damage due to the heavy rain, the state education department has decided to reschedule its monsoon and summer break.

''Unprecedented rains, landslides, flash floods have caused great loss to road infrastructure. Keeping in view the adverse conditions and giving top priority to the safety and security of students and employees, it has been decided to reschedule monsoon break,'' an order issued by Director, Higher Education Amarjeet Sharma read.

There are more than 15,000 government schools in the state, of which about 65 per cent are summer-closing and 35 per cent are winter-closing schools.

According to the order, the 23-day monsoon break in Kullu district has been preponed from July 23 to August 14 to July 10 to August 1. The 42-day summer break in Lahaul and Spiti district is now scheduled from July 10 to August 20 in place of July 17 to August 27.

Similarly, the six-day monsoon break in Kinnaur and Pangi, Bharmaur areas of Chamba district and other winter-closing schools has been rescheduled from July 10 to 15 in place of July 22 to 27. The order would be applicable to all government schools and the private schools affiliated to the Himachal Pradesh Board of School education.

The education department said the schools affiliated with the ICSE and CBSE or any other board can take a decision with regard to closing of schools at their own level, keeping in view the exigencies and local weather conditions.

Earlier the schools were closed for two days on July 9 after heavy to extremely heavy rains lashed several parts of the state, triggering landslides and flash floods, blocking roads, claiming several lives and damaging government and private properties.

The meteorological department has warned of the possibility of moderate to high flash floods in Shimla, Sirmaur and Kinnaur districts.

Heavy to very heavy rain lashed parts of Sirmaur, Shimla, Mandi and Kinnaur districts. Nahan received 250 mm rain, followed by Dhaulakuan (138.5 mm), Jubberhatti (90 mm), Kufri (67 mm), Narkanda (65 mm), Shimla (64 mm), Mashobra (60.5 mm), Kalpa (48 mm), Reckongpeo (42 mm), Mandi (46 mm) and Sundernagar (45 mm).

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)