30 still missing in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, search continues
Army personnel, national and state disaster relief force, and state police teams continued to to look for missing persons, but no one was found during the day. Several areas in the district also continued to remain cut off because of damaged roads.
In all, 14 persons were confirmed to have died due to the monsoon disaster in by Saturday. The worst-affected areas in Mandi district include Thunag, Gohar, Karsog, and Dharampur sub-divisions.
Deputy commissioner Apoorv Devgan has appealed to well-off members of society to extend help in the rehabilitation efforts.
He mentioned that interested individuals could deposit their contributions to the chief minister's relief fund at account number 40610107381, IFSC HPSC0000406, and to Red Cross Society at account number 3377000104129588, IFSC code PUNB0003377.
As many as 74 human lives across the state, including 20 in Mandi district and 13 in Kangra district, were lost due to the monsoon disaster between June 20 and July 5.
A total of 37 people are still missing and 115 persons have sustained injuries. The hill state suffered a total loss of over Rs 566.87 crore during this period as per the state govt's disaster management cell.
A total of 238 roads across the state, including 176 in Mandi district, were blocked on Saturday evening due to incessant rains and flash floods. As many as 258 power distribution transformers, including 230 in Mandi district, and 289 water supply schemes, including 278 in Mandi district, were disrupted due to heavy rain, as per the state emergency operation centre.
Situation Returning to Normal
Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Saturday that the situation in disaster-hit areas of Seraj assembly constituency of Mandi district caused by torrential rains was rapidly returning to normal and the state govt would provide Rs 5,000 per month as rent to families whose houses were damaged in this disaster.
The meteorological department has issued a red alert for Sunday and the state govt is on alert to tackle any situation, said Sukhu.
He said public works minister Vikramaditya Singh visited monsoon-affected areas of Seraj on Saturday to monitor the ongoing rescue and rehabilitation operations.
1,317 food kits distributed
The Mandi district administration has distributed 1,317 food kits containing 5kg flour, 5kg rice, one litre of edible oil, 1kg salt, 1kg sugar, 2kg pulses, 100g turmeric, 100g chilli powder, and 100g tea each, among the affected families in the disaster-hit areas till July 4, said a govt spokesperson.
Dy CM Meets Affected Families
On Saturday, deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri visited disaster-affected areas of Seraj and Nachan assembly constituencies in Mandi district to assess the ground situation and meet affected families. Agnihotri also held meetings with various govt officials and directed them to restore damaged roads to various panchayats besides clean drinking water and power supply in affected areas.
He also announced that the Baglamukhi ropeway would be free of charge until further notice, benefiting around 1,500 people so far, and that the ropeway service would be available via phone call in emergencies.
'Give Rs 200cr assistance'
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) state committee on Saturday demanded that the central govt should immediately provide the hill state with at least Rs 200 crore in assistance and other resources to tackle the monsoon disaster.
Sanjay Chauhan, state secretary of CPI(M), said the central govt should conduct scientific research to devise a solid policy to address and prevent such climate change-induced disasters in future.
BJP sends food kits
BJP state president Dr Rajeev Bindal said the party was sending ration kits to affected families in Mandi. On Saturday, 100 ration kits were sent from Nahan in Sirmaur district. Each kit contains 10kg rice and flour each, 2kg lentils, 1kg salt, one litre of mustard oil, some spices, matches, and candles. "Our aim is to deliver 1,500 kits to Mandi by Sunday," he added.
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