2 migrant labourers die in landslide near Shimla
Police said the two men from Bihar were sleeping inside a shanty when the landslide occurred near a stone crusher at Ashwani Khud on the Mehli-Junga road around 3.30am
At least two migrant labourers were killed in a landslide on Junga road, 20km from Shimla, early on Tuesday.
Police said the two men from Bihar were sleeping inside a shanty when the landslide occurred near a stone crusher at Ashwani Khud on the Mehli-Junga road around 3.30am. Five other labourers in the vicinity managed to escape.
Shimla superintendent of police Sanjeev Gandhi said that the bodies of Rakesh Kumar, 34, and Rajesh Kumar, 36, were retrieved and sent for post-mortem to the local Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital.
Deputy commissioner Anupam Kashyap inspected the site said the rescue team, comprising police, fire brigade, State Disaster Response Force and home guard personnel, rushed to the spot soon after the report of the incident was received.
The injured, Rahul Kumar, 18, Megh Sahni, 42, Baijnath Ram, 35, Ashok Ram, 45, all from Bihar, and Tony Kumar, 20, of Chamba, were undergoing treatment at IGMC, Shimla.
4 national highways among 473 road closed
Over 470 roads, including four national highways, remained closed in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday after snowfall and rain in several parts, the state emergency operation centre said.
According to the centre, 473 roads were closed while 398 transformers and 38 water supply schemes were disrupted.
In Himachal, January was recorded as the driest in the past 17 years as the state received 6.8 mm rains against normal rainfall of 85.3 mm, a deficit of 92%, according to the MeT department.
In January 1996, the rain deficit was 99.6% and in 2007, the rain deficit was 98.5%.
Of the total, 153 roads were closed for vehicles in Lahaul and Spiti, 134 in Shimla, 68 in Kullu, 61 in Chamba, 46 in Mandi, eight in Sirmaur, two in Kinnaur and one in Kangra.
In the past 24 hours, Khadrala received 4 cm of snow, Bharmour 3 cm, Kufri 2 cm, Gondla 1.3 cm and Sangla 0.5 cm while Kalpa, Kukumseri, Narkanda and Keylong received traces of snow, according to data shared by the MeT office.
Palampur received a hailstorm while light rains lashed some parts of the state. Mandi and Chopal received 10 mm of rain each, Slapper 9 mm, Bhuntar 8.5 mm, Seobagh 8 mm, Dharamshala 7.7 mm and Sundernagar 7 cm.
The minimum and maximum temperatures remained below normal. Kukumseri in Lahaul and Spiti recorded the lowest night temperature at minus 8.6 degrees Celsius.
The local Met office has predicted dry weather in the state for the next six days till February 12.
The snow and rains has also brought cheers to the agriculturists and horticulturists as snow is considered as white manure for apples and rains are beneficial for the Rabi crop. A dry spell had affected the Rabi crops in plain areas.
With inputs from PTI
