Page 4 - Shimla

Schools, colleges in Himachal to remain shut today, death toll rises to 57

The death toll in the rain fury in Himachal Pradesh rose to 57 on Wednesday with the body of a woman being pulled out of the debris of a collapsed Shiv temple near Summer Hill here, officials said. Heavy rains have battered Himachal Pradesh since Sunday, triggering landslides in Shimla's Summer Hill, Krishna Nagar and Fagli. "Rescue operations are going on in Summer Hill and Krishna Nagar areas and one body has been recovered from Summer Hill," Deputy Commissioner Aditya Negi told PTI. He said so far 13 bodies have been recovered from Summer Hill, five bodies from Fagli and two from Krishna Nagar. Ten bodies are still feared buried in the debris of the Shiv temple that collapsed on Monday. About 15 houses in Krishna Nagar have been vacated and the families have been shifted to safe places. Several others have vacated their homes themselves fearing slides due to incessant rains. Two persons were killed and at least eight houses were razed to the ground and a slaughter house was bur

Massive landslide strikes Shimla's Summer Hill area, rescue op underway

A search and rescue operation was launched after the word of the incident got out and sniffer dogs and rescuers were at the spot at the time of filing this report

Himachal rains: 8 houses collapse in Shimla landslide, 2 feared trapped

At least eight houses, including six makeshift ones, were razed to the ground and a slaughterhouse was buried under debris in a landslide in Krishnanagar locality here on Tuesday evening. Two persons are feared trapped under the rubble of the houses, officials said. Uprooting of a large tree caused a landslip leading to the collapse of a cluster of houses with deafening noise. At least two persons are feared trapped and possibility of more people under the debris cannot be ruled out, Shimla Deputy Commissioner Aditya Negi told PTI. Cracks had developed in some houses in the morning following which most of the residents vacated them, the officials said. Local councillor Bittu Panna said at least two persons who were inside the slaughterhouse are feared trapped under the debris. Videos of people in nearby houses screaming and telling the inmates to leave immediately were circulated on social media. Heart-wrenching scenes of people calling for help and running for safety were witne

51 killed in Himachal Pradesh rains, 14 of them in Shimla landslides

At least 33 people were killed in Himachal Pradesh, seven of them buried under the rubble of a temple in Shimla as rains wreaked havoc in the state, triggering landslides that blocked key roads and brought down houses, officials said on Monday. More people are feared trapped under the debris of the Shiv temple in Shimla's Summer Hill area. The shrine was crowded with devotees, offering prayers on an important day of the Sawan period. This was one of the two landslides reported from the state capital which is still witnessing intense rain. In a second landslide here, five bodies have been pulled out of the rubble in Fagli area while 17 persons rescued, Shimla SP Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi told PTI. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu earlier said nine bodies have been pulled out of the debris from a Shiv temple in the Summer Hill area that collapsed and the other site in the Fagli area where several houses were buried under mud and slush. All schools and colleges in the state were clos

16 killed in Shimla landslides, Solan cloudburst in Himachal, schools shut

A cloudburst in Jadon village of Himachal Pradesh's Solan districts left seven members of a family dead, police said on Monday. Two houses were washed away in the cloudburst that took place on Sunday night and six people were rescued. The dead were identified as Harnam (38), Kamal Kishore (35), Hemlata (34), Rahul (14), Neha (12), Golu (8) and Raksha (12), Superintendent of Police, Solan, Gaurav Singh said. In another rain-related incident, several people are feared trapped in a landslide at Shiv temple in Summer Hill area of Shimla city.Rescue operations are underway. In view of the heavy rains, all schools and colleges in the state have been ordered to be shut on Monday.

4 killed in two separate incidents involving apple-laden trucks in Shimla

Four people were crushed by apple-laden trucks in two separate road incidents in Shimla, police said on Wednesday. Two people were crushed to death coming under a truck laden with apples in Chaila area of Shimla district, police said. The incident happened Tuesday evening when the truck from Narkanda was going outside the state taking the Rajgarh-Solan road. The truck, reportedly by mistake, veered towards Chaila market instead of the SainjRajgarh road and going out of control, hit four vehicles, turned turtle, and crushed two people, one of whom was a woman. According to preliminary investigations by police, a brake failure led to the accident. The bodies were extracted with the help of an excavator and sent for post mortem to the Civil Hospital in Theog, police said. A case has been registered and investigations are underway, they said. In the second incident, driver of another apple-laden truck coming from Theog lost control over the vehicle near Dhalli in the outskirts of Shi

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Shimla's ex-Dy Mayor files FIR against NHAI, road building company GR Infra

A case has been registered for unscientific construction and violating the norms to build the road which caused landslides, flood and killed so many people during the heavy rains in the state

Several houses in Shimla at risk of sinking due to incessant rain: Official

Several houses across six panchayats in the Nankhari and Kotgarh areas of Shimla district are at risk of sinking due to incessant rains in the area, officials said on Saturday. Continuous rains in the past few days have led to the sinking of land in a few villages, with several families evacuated to safer places, Deputy Commissioner Shimla Aditya Negi told PTI. We would request the geological experts to conduct a survey to find the reason behind the sinking of land, he said. A cloudburst occurred in the upper areas of Jaban in the Anni area of the Kullu district on Friday night, triggering flash floods in Deori Khud. An alert was sounded and the people living along the river bank were shifted to safer places at midnight. The flash flood also caused damage to orchards and rendered inaccessible Anni-Barsa road in many places. A surge in the discharge of water created a flood-like situation also in Kotu Nallah. Damage has been reported to some houses and other private property and

Need to maintain balance between development and environment, says SC

The Supreme Court has emphasised the need for maintaining a balance between development and environment, and said it would hear a matter relating to the Shimla Development Plan on August 11. The Himachal Pradesh government notified the draft Shimla Development Plan last month to regulate construction activities there. A plea pertaining to the issue came up for hearing before a bench of Justices B R Gavai and J B Pardiwala on Friday. The bench said it would examine the plan, keeping in view that a balance needs to be maintained between development and environment. It listed the matter for hearing on August 11. The top court was hearing a plea arising out of a November 2017 order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which had passed a slew of directions while noting that unplanned and indiscriminate development in the core, non-core, green and rural areas within the Shimla planning area had given rise to serious environmental and ecological concerns. The plan was approved by the .

Himachal rains: NH-5 blocked in Shimla, Kinnaur following landslides

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) shared images of the blocked stretches of the highway in two Himachal districts

NSG team collects evidence from Shimla eatery rocked by explosion

A National Security Guard (NSG) team on Sunday visited the Mall Road eatery in Shimla where a gas leak apparently led to a blast, killing one person and injuring 13 more. The blast occurred on Tuesday evening at Himachali Rasoi restaurant, known for serving Himachali cuisines, located in Middle Bazaar adjacent to the fire brigade office in the heart of the city. Police said the blast was apparently caused by a gas leak. A 16-member team of the NSG's National Bomb Data Centre (NBDC) inspected the site, collected evidence from the blast spot, examined the evidence collected by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case and also interacted with those injured, besides the forensic experts who initially collected the samples. Director General of Police Sanjay Kundu told PTI earlier in the day that the place where the blast occurred was sensitive as it is near the Police Reporting Room. The NSG specialises in this field and their services are being availed to determine the caus

Rains in HP: Flash floods damage houses, Shimla-Kinnaur highway blocked

Flash floods damaged houses and inundated agricultural land in Himachal Pradesh's Kamru Panchayat on Thursday while the Shimla-Kinnaur highway was blocked due to a swollen Broni stream between Rampur and Jhakri, officials said. Since the onset of monsoon in the hill state, 130 people have died in rain-related incidents such as landslides and flash floods, and road accidents, according to the Himachal Pradesh State Emergency Response Centre. The state has suffered a loss of Rs 4,809 crore. On the situation in Kamru Panchayat in the Sangla Valley, Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Tarul S Raveesh said flash floods increased the water flow in a stream. Horticulture as well as agriculture land have been inundated and the loss is being assessed, the official said. Reports of damage to houses and vehicles are also pouring in, the DC said and added that no casualty has been reported yet. Shimla DC Aditya Negi said following a cloudburst, water level in the Broni Nallah increased and inunda

1 dead, 10 injured in blast at eatery on Shimla's Mall Road; shops damaged

One person was killed and 10 others were injured in a blast on Tuesday evening at an eating joint adjacent to the fire brigade office on the Mall Road in the heart of Shimla, officials said. The blast occurred at the Himachali Rasoi restaurant, known for serving Himachali cuisines, located in Middle Bazaar just below the Mall Road and four to six shops have been damaged, they said. The intensity of the blast was such that windowpanes of several shops and houses in the vicinity were broken and the sound was heard miles away. As the spot is just a few metres away from the fire station and the police control room, a fire fight operation was launched swiftly. Locals said they had complained of a gas leak about 20 minutes before the explosion. They suspect it was caused by a cylinder blast. "One person was killed in the blast. Ten others who sustained burn injuries were immediately rushed to Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital (IGMCH) Shimla, two of them are stated to be critical," .

Tankers pressed into service in Shimla as water supply remains disrupted

Water supply to several parts of the city remained disrupted for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday as heavy silt following incessant rains affected pumping of water. Water is being supplied through tankers to the residents and ten tankers have been pressed into service, Mayor of the Corporation Surender Chauhan said. Shimla received 6.58 mld (million litre per day) of water on Tuesday against the average 42-45 mld as no pumping was done from the Giri water source, according to the Shimla Jal Prabandhan Nigam Limited (SJPNL) officials. Giri and Gumma are the two major sources of water, supplying an average 15 mld each but only 2.23 mld was supplied from Gumma as Chaba pumping station is damaged, Nautikhad is flooded and only one pump is working at the Gumma station. The other four sources from where water is supplied to Shimla, including Churot, Seog, Chairh and Koti Brandi contributed 4.35 mld. A maximum of 606 out of the total 1,418 water schemes affected by rains were in Shi

Congress-led Shimla Municipal House approves 4% increase in house tax

The Congress-led Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) on Saturday approved a four per cent increase in house tax amid protest by the BJP councillors. The proposal was supported by Congress members in a meeting of the SMC House and they said hiking the house tax was mandatory to get central government grants for various works. Mayor Surender Chauhan said according to guidelines of the Himachal Pradesh government, 10 per cent increase in tax is required but in view of better collection of tax, a four per cent increase has been recommended. The tax will come into effect after the state government approves the recommendation of the SMC House through a notification. The House also discussed levying a green tax, and a committee of councillors has been constituted on the matter.

Shimla police introduces river guard system to prevent drowning incidents

Shimla police on Thursday introduced a River Guard System in this Himachal Pradesh district to prevent frequent drowning incidents, especially during the ongoing monsoon season. As per the police data about 105 persons, including 21 women and nine children, have drowned in the district since 2018. Of these, 17 persons were reported dead this year. The maximum number of incidents, 22, were reported from Chirgaon in the Rohru subdivision followed by 19 each in Rampur, 13 in Kumarsain, nine in Theog, five each in Jhakri and Jubbal and four each in Sunni and Dhalli areas of the capital district. A majority of those who drowned were young. Such deaths bring a lot of pain to the families of the deceased and a series of operations are required to rescue the drowned or recover their bodies from water, police said. These incidents increase during the monsoon season as rivers are in spate and, therefore, we have introduced the river guard system in the district to save precious lives, Shimla

Himachal govt to decongest Shimla, project to cost over Rs 100 cr: CM Sukhu

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Saturday said the state government has prepared a comprehensive blueprint to decongest Shimla and increase tourist footfall at an estimated cost of over Rs 100 crore. Sukhu said approximately Rs 77 crore will be spent for land acquisition and to compensate the private owners whose properties would be demolished to widen the roads, while Rs 20 crore has been earmarked for the development and widening of the road. Additionally, Rs 3.50 crore has been provisioned for the construction of a flyover from Metropole to High Court Junction, he said. The state government has a clear vision to boost tourism in Himachal Pradesh and to create an environment conducive to the growth of the tourism industry by providing visitors with an unforgettable experience, Sukhu said in a statement issued here. He said that Rs 97 crore has been released for this and the state government would provide more funds if needed. Parking lots will also be ..

Sukhu flags off 20 new e-buses of HRTC, to replace 1,500 buses in phases

The capital city of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla now has 20 more electronic buses. With this, the total number of e-buses operational in the city has gone up to 70

Vehicles queue Shimla after police suspends new traffic plan for a day

Long queues of vehicles choked the roads in the Himachal Pradesh capital on Saturday following the discontinuation of the 'one-minute traffic light plan' for a day on trial basis. The plan that was introduced last month by the Shimla Police to make Shimla jam-free was rolled back following some negative comments on social media platforms. Besides roads, the long queues of vehicles were also seen in the peripheral areas of the parking slots, causing grave inconvenience to the locals and tourists alike. The distance that could earlier be covered in just 10-15 minutes took hours, said a local. A tourist said it took them an entire day to travel the 10-kilometre distance from Kaithu to Sanjauli and then back. Roads from Taradevi to Sanjauli and the circular road, also known as the Cart road, were choked with vehicles that were moving at a snail's pace. "It was a terrible drive and entering Shimla seemed like a nightmare," said Jeffery, a tourist from Moga in Punjab. Shimla Superinte