CHANDIGARH: Five people died and sixteen are missing in the Karsog subdivision of Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh due to a series of flash floods that were triggered by sixteen cloudburst events.
Meanwhile, at least 332 people were evacuated from affected areas in Mandi, Chamba and Hamirpur districts of the State as authorities worked to trace the missing and restore blocked routes.
The Kiratpur-Manali highway has been blocked at multiple places between Mandi and Kullu, and the motorists were stranded inside road tunnels the whole night.
Five hydroelectricity projects have also been shut down due to high silt levels and high river inflows. Sources said that cloudbursts took place at at least four places in the Mandi district, which resulted in flash floods.
Many houses, vehicles and bridges were also washed away it was early morning, thus the people ran to safe themselves. Meanwhile, 16 people, including 12 children and 4 women, were rescued. A seven-member family from Riki village was also rescued and relocated to a safer area.
Meanwhile, sixteen persons are missing as two homes were swept away at Jayuni Khad by the tributary of the Beas River in Sianj Panchayat. Three other homes were washed away in Talwara village of Gohar, and four remain missing in Karsog. Also, ten houses and 12 cowsheds were destroyed and 26 cattle perished.
Meanwhile, many houses and cowsheds collapsed or washed away in Serthi and Bhadrana villages in Dharampur subdivision, but no casualties have been reported from the area so far.
Around a dozen vehicles parked at Jail Road in Mandi were buried following a landslide. Many locals and students from Palace Colony, DIET, Bada, Bassi, Kutti, Rikki villages, and Government Degree College Karsog were rescued by teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), police, home guards, and District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).
Also, the people at Pandoh market were evacuated around midnight as a precautionary measure, as the water levels in the Beas rose dangerously high downstream due to controlled release from the Pandoh Dam as the gates of the dam were opened. There was no casualty and no one was reported trapped.
Another fourteen people were evacuated from Raghunath ka Padhar and eleven were rescued from Purani Mandi after a sudden surge in the Beas River as the dam gates were opened.
On the other hand, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams are on the spot and actively monitoring the evolving situation. A flash flood was also reported in the Bagi rivulet in the Kandi-Kataula area of the district.
As per the report of Himachal Pradesh State Emergency Operations Centre, in the last nineteen hours, sixteen cloud bursts and three flash floods took place. Four people died, five were injured, 16 are missing, nine people are stranded, while 332 people have been evacuated, of these 278 in Mandi, 51 in Hamirpur and three in Chamba.
While 30 animals died and one hydro electricity project damaged, 24 houses and 12 cow sheds and one bridge damaged. While 406 roads are closed across the State and 1515 electricity transformers and 171 water supply schemes are disrupted.
The Kiratpur-Manali highway has been blocked at multiple places between Mandi and Kullu as landslides took place near Jhalogi Tunnel, Four Miles, and Pandoh, and the motorists were stranded inside road tunnels the whole night between Mandi and Aut.
The vehicular movement from Mandi towards Kullu has been suspended due to safety reasons. Meanwhile, food and water was distributed to them by the volunteers of the district administration.
Due to continuous rainfall the efforts to clear the highway have been severely hampered which started late Monday evening. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has deployed personnel and machinery to clear debris and restore traffic.
Due to heavy rain in the upper catchment areas of Beas River it has led to a sharp increase in inflow at Pandoh Dam, thus the spill gates were opened to manage the water levels which caused the river to swell downstream.
Warning sirens are being sounded continuously, and public announcement vehicles have been deployed to inform the public to stay away from the riverbanks. Meanwhile, as a precautionary measure, all educational institutes, including schools, remained closed in Mandi and Kangra districts on Tuesday.
Two National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) projects have borne the brunt of the rains and cloudbursts which unleashed floods.
As per the dam status report of the state emergency operations centre as of 3 pm today the 520 MW Parbati Project Phase III (PHEP-III) was incapacitated as the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) was 1330, while Present Reservoir Level was 1301 as the inflow in the dam was 104.21 cumecs and the slipway out flow as the same.
The 800 MW Parbati Hydroelectric Project Phase II (PHEP-II) had its entire powerhouse floor inundated with sludge clogging draft tubes and disabling all four turbines. As per the dam status report of the state emergency operations centre, the Full Reservoir Level was 2198 and Present Reservoir Level was 2168.61, inflow was 253.08 cumecs and the slipway out flow was the same.
While the 100 MW Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) Sainj hydel project also suffered the same problem. The Full Reservoir Level was 1752 and Highest Flood Level was 1753, while Present Reservoir Level was 1740, inflow was 60.19 cumecs and the slipway out flow was the same.
The Larji Hydro Electric Project (126 MW) in Kullu also increased its water discharge due to rising water levels and high silt content and similar warnings have been issued to the public and tourists in the area.
The Full Reservoir Level was 969.5 and Highest Flood Level was 971.5 while Present Reservoir Level was 966.4, inflow 758.17 cumecs and the slipway outflow was 373 cumecs.
The Pandoh Dam Full Reservoir Level was 896.42 and Highest Flood Level was the same, while Present Reservoir Level was 888.76, inflow 1040.84 and slipway out flow was 1095.15 cumecs, thus the dam has been shut down due to high river inflow following cloudburst.