Rescue workers on Thursday shifted to safety all 256 tourists stranded for five days at Chandratal in Lahaul and Spiti and mounted a helicopter operation to evacuate over 100 people stuck at places around Sangla in rain-battered Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district.
The state government claims to have moved 60,000 tourists to safer areas over the past four days. But 10,000 tourists stuck at different spots in Kasol, Kheerganga and adjoining areas are refusing to trek to safety as they do not want to leave their cars behind, officials said.
Authorities have told them they would be given “receipts” they can produce to claim the vehicles later.
The hill state has been lashed by heavy rains that triggered landslides and flash floods, blocking roads and washing away bridges.
With the recovery of three more bodies, the Himachal death toll rose Wednesday to 42. Fourteen people are missing, according to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
According to the State Emergency Response Centre, 636 houses are totally wrecked and another 1,128 partially damaged. Altogether 1,110 roads still remain blocked.
The emergency centre says the state has suffered a loss of Rs 2,108 crore due to the rains. But the chief minister has pegged the losses at about Rs 4,000 crore.
Expert drivers brought the stranded tourist vehicles from snowbound Chandratal, beginning Wednesday morning. The tourists were given food and medical supplies when they reached Losar, 30 km away.
They were later taken to the region's main tow Kaza, Lahaul and Spiti Deputy Commissioner Rahul Kumar told PTI.
Chandratal Lake in Spiti valley is a popular tourist destination where visitors stay in camps. Several movies have been shot there.
Seven sick people were airlifted from the campsite on Tuesday, but the rest had to wait till the relief teams cleared the road. The road evacuation began with the arrival of Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi to Chandratal early Thursday.
From Sangla in Kinnaur, 113 people were airlifted through six sorties, CM Sukhu said in a tweet Thursday.
Sukhu visited the flood-hit Thunag sub-division in Mandi and announced that the government will give Rs 1 lakh and provide land for construction of houses to each affected family.
According to Education Minister Rohit Thakur, the death toll in rain-related incidents and road accidents in the state has risen to 91 since the onset of monsoon on June 24.
Officiating DGP Satwant Atwal tweeted Wednesday night that 95 people have been brought to safe places in Sangla, Chitkul and Raksham in Kinnaur district.
The figure includes six Israeli tourists. Thirty-seven more from that country are stranded in Barshaini and are safe, authorities said.
Tourists from the US, Russia, Israel, Germany, Spain, Australia and Romania are also stuck in Himachal Pradesh, they said.
Israel’s Deputy Chief of Mission Ohad Nakash Kaynar tweeted on Thursday, “Going to Himachal Pradesh on the Director General and Ambassador's directive to try and reconnect with Israeli tourists who are in flooded areas like Kasol, Kalga and Pulga." Bus services remain suspended on 1,061 Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation routes, and 344 buses remain stranded.
There were rains again Thursday in several parts of the state.
The MeT office has issued a 'yellow' alert for heavy rains, thunderstorms and lightning from July 13 to 17 and predicted a wet spell till July 19.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
