The monsoon continues to cause extensive damage across Himachal Pradesh, badly affecting road networks. In the past 72 hours alone, torrential rains have wreaked havoc on the Kiratpur-Manali-Leh highway, washing away significant portions of the road.
On the direction of Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the Kullu district administration evacuated five patients from Stingri in Lahaul-Spiti on Thursday to the district hospital in Kullu for providing them immediate medical care.
After receiving the information, he immediately instructed the Kullu district administration to arrange an airlift for Alka, Puran Singh, Aayush, Riyansh, and his mother Sanjita, and all of them have been admitted to the district hospital, Kullu.
The Chief Minister has directed doctors to provide them the best possible medical care.
Along with the evacuation, essential commodities were also airlifted to Lahaul-Spiti to prevent scarcity of supplies in the region. This step became necessary as road connectivity to the district has been severely disrupted, with several stretches washed away.
Reviewing the broader situation caused by incessant rainfall, the Chief Minister, while on his way to Bihar, spoke with the Chief Secretary and senior administrative officers to assess the ongoing rescue and relief operations in disaster-hit areas of the state.
He also gave necessary instructions to the administrative officers.
According to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) report as of Thursday evening, 312 lives have been lost during this monsoon season.
Of these, 160 lives have been lost due to rain-related incidents, including cloudbursts, landslides, flash floods, drowning, and other natural disasters.
Road accidents claimed 152 lives.
Mandi reported the highest casualties, 51, of which 29 were rain-related and 22 road accidents, followed by Kangra, 49 deaths (30 deaths were rain-related and 19 due to road accidents).