Himachal cloudburst toll rises to 13, searches on for 40 missing

The death toll due to flash floods triggered by cloudbursts in three districts of Himachal Pradesh has increased to 13 with the recovery of four bodies from Mandi and Shimla districts on Sunday.

Over 40 people are still missing after a series of cloudbursts occurred in Kullu's Nirmand, Sainj and Malana, Mandi's Padhar and Shimla's Rampur subdivision on the night of July 31 and wreaked havoc.

The bodies of Sonam (23) and three-month-old Manvi were recovered from Rajbhan village in Padhar area of Mandi district, officials said.

The rescue operations are still underway and sniffer dogs, drones and other equipment are also being used to locate the missing people.

According to officials, 410 rescuers from teams of the Army, National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Central Industrial Security Force, Himachal Pradesh police and home guards are involved in the hunt.

Over 30 people are missing in Samej village in Gram panchayat Sarpara in Rampur subdivision.

More machines have been deployed and the rescue operations are going in full swing.

As the flow of water has reduced, now machines have reached the spot where the missing persons could be possibly found, Up-pradhan Sarpara CL Negi said.

The state government on Friday announced an immediate relief of Rs 50,000 for the victims and said they would be given Rs 5,000 monthly for rent for the next three months along with gas, food and other essential items.

The state has suffered a loss of Rs 662 crore since the onset of monsoon on June 27 till August 3.

Seventy-nine people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents, as per the state emergency operation centre.