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Himachal flood leaves 125 dead, rescue operations on

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

Kinnuar and Rampur districts of Himachal Pradesh are virtually cut off from rest of the state because of flash floods in Sutlej river. The state administration is using army helicopters to drop relief supplies to the marooned people.

The worst hit areas include Khab, Akpa, Riba, Shongtong, Karcham, Tapri, and Chora. Eighty persons were washed away in Kinnaur while 45 lost their lives in Rampur.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal told rediff.com that, so far, 125 bodies have been recovered from the river. "But many more are missing," Dhumal said. He rejected the report put out by a television network that more than 500 people have lost their lives so far.

"I have spoken to both Prime Minister Vajpayee and Defence Minister George Fernandes and both have assured me of full cooperation. "In fact, the prime minister told me that Central assistance teams would soon join the rescue operations. According to initial estimates, property worth Rs 10 billion has been damaged. We have asked the Centre to release Rs 5 billion. The devastation unleashed by the river has been unprecedented. More than thirty bridges have been washed away. Many police posts, government rest houses, army camps have been also washed away along with hundreds of villages," he said.

According to Dhumal, three power plants have been shut down because the water has entered the power plants and damaged the machinery. "The Bhaba power plant has been hit badly. This plant was producing 120 megawatts of electricity. The Naptha Jhakri power plant has also been hit."

"Several hotels and guesthouses of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation have been damaged. A 33 km stretch of the Hindustan-Tibet Road has been washed out. The defence minister has directed army units in HP to assist the state administration in relief measures," Dhumal added.

Dhumal flew over the flood affected areas to get a first hand knowledge of the devastation caused by the flash floods. "I was moved by the misery of the people. Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Border Security Force and others have joined the rescue operations," he explained.

While the tribal belt of Kinnaur continues to remain cut off from rest of the state as all the telecommunication links have been washed away, Rampur is slowly limping back to normalcy. "The telephone lines to Rampur would be restored in the next couple of days. But Kinnaur is going to take time," said a top official. Temporary bridges have been built with the help of army and paramilitary forces.

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