HP rain fury: Death toll climbs to 72, 8 still under Shiv temple debris

With the recovery of one more body from the debris of a collapsed Shiv temple in Summer Hill area here, the death toll in the rain fury in Himachal Pradesh has climbed to 72, officials said on Thursday.

The deceased was identified as Prof P L Sharma, Chairman, Department of Mathematics, Himachal Pradesh University.

The temple was crowded with devotees on Monday when the landslide struck. Eight persons are still feared buried in the debris.

Heavy rains have lashed the hill state since Sunday, triggering landslides in several districts, including Shimla.

The total number of deaths in rain-related incidents in the state since Sunday night has increased to 72 with Shimla alone accounting for 21 deaths.

"With the recovery of one more body on Wednesday, the death toll in three landslide incidents - Summerhill, Fagli and Krishna Nagar in state capital Shimla -- has reached 21," Superintendent of Police, Shimla, Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi told PTI.

Rescue operations are going on in Summer Hill and Krishna Nagar areas. So far 14 bodies have been recovered from Summer Hill, five bodies from Fagli and two from Krishna Nagar, he added.

Principal Secretary (Revenue) Onkar Chand Sharma said on Wednesday that the losses in the monsoon season have touched 7,500 crore.

SDM, Shimla (Urban), Bhanu Gupta had issued orders for closure of all educational institutions in Shimla Urban assembly segment on Thursday as several roads have been blocked due to heavy rains in recent days and frequent landslides have been reported.

As many as 650 roads were blocked in the state and 1,135 transformers and 285 water supply schemes were disrupted.

In an interview with PTI, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu had said that his state will take a year to rebuild the infrastructure damaged by the heavy rains this monsoon and claimed that the estimated loss in the two devastating spells of heavy rains - this week and in July - is about Rs 10,000 crore.

The chief minister said it takes time to rebuild roads and water projects. But the government is speeding up the process. We have to get the infrastructure fully restored within a year. I am working with this in mind.

It's a big challenge, a mountain-like challenge, he had said.