Devastation continues in Himachal: 8 multi-storey buildings collapse in Kullu (original) (raw)

Eight buildings, all multi-storeys that had developed cracks and had been declared unsafe, collapsed following a landslide on Thursday in the Anni area of Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district. There were no casualties.

The buildings near the Anni bus stand housing shops, banks and other commercial establishments had developed cracks following incessant rain in the second week of July following which the district administration had declared the buildings unsafe. The occupants had vacated the buildings last week, Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Anni, Naresh Verma said.

Several other unsafe buildings along National Highway-305 in Anni have also been vacated as a precautionary measure, Verma added. According to eyewitnesses, the incident happened around 9.15 am when a chunk of land along the hill slope slid down under the weight of which the buildings collapsed throwing up clouds of dust and debris,

Buildings collapse in Anni in Kullu district as the mountain slope slides.

Geological experts have warned time and again that ultimately slopes will slide to regain their equilibrium which has been disturbed by construction.
Rains cannot be blamed.pic.twitter.com/Ut1hxLRbip

— Man Aman Singh Chhina (@manaman_chhina) August 24, 2023

“Of the eight buildings that collapsed, four housed commercial establishments, and the other four, which were neared to the hill slope, were residential. Two other buildings nearby too suffered some damage. No loss of life has been reported. There were indications that the buildings may collapse anytime. We were alert,” Verma said, adding that the loss to property is being assessed.

According to officials, apart from cracks in the buildings, soil had eroded from all sides of the structures after flashfloods and landslides in mid-July.

Kullu’s Deputy Commissioner, Aashutosh Garg, talking with The Indian Express over phone said the the buildings were not very old. “There are 23 more buildings in the vicinity of the landslide site. They too are at risk and their owners have been told to shift out,” the DC said.

Garg blamed the heavy rainfall in the region this monsoon, “followed by lack of proper drainage of rain water” as primary reasons behind the incident. “However, experts will look into the reasons after studying various factors,” he added.

The damaged houses and multi-storeyed buildings belonged to Dr Gyan Chand, Mahesh Kumar, Subash Chand, Inder Chand, Vidya Devi, Shashi Bala, Suresh Kumar, Chiranji Lal, Khem Chand, Layak Ram and his son Chuni Lal, and Tule Ram.
One of the owners, Dr Gyan Chand, a retired government doctor, said his father had initially go.

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“We added two more storeys five years ago. The property was jointly owned by me and three of my brothers. Our family is in shock,” he said.

Sachin Malhotra, who owns a hardware shop nearby, said, “I saw the buildings collapsing. There was dust and debris all around. People in the nearby areas have now started vacating their houses and shops”.

Meanwhile, authorities ordered the closure of all schools in Shimla on Friday even as three more bodies were recovered from the rubble of the landslide that buried a Shiv Temple in the state capital’s Summer Hill area on August 14.

So far, 27 bodies have been recovered from the debris of the three major landslides that hit Shimla recently. While 20 bodies have been recovered from the Shiv temple, five have been recovered in Fagli and two in Krishnanagar, SP Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi said.

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The SP announced the closure of the search operation at Shiv temple site after bodies of Neeraj Thakur (45), Samayra (4) and Pawan (64) were recovered. He said no other missing person is being reported. As per officials hundreds of travellers were stranded in relief camps after landslides blocked the road to Mandi. On Wednesday night, there were over 900 people at camps near Pandoh on Kullu-Mandi road.

Officials said stranded people on the Kallu-Mandi highway were shifted to relief camps set up in hotels, rest houses and residential homes at Pandoh, Aut and Bajaura. A number of vehicles could be seen on both sides of the landslide-hit area.

On Wednesday, food packets were distributed to about 950 people in the relief camps, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said. About 120 people have died in landslides and other rain-related incidents in the state this month, about 80 of them since August 14. Altogether, 242 people have died in Himachal Pradesh since the monsoon began on June 24.

CM Sukhu, meanwhile, claimed that the state has suffered losses of Rs 12,000 crore so far. Rains continued to lash several parts of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday. While Palampur received 137 mm of rain, Nahan received 93 mm, Shimla 79 mm, Dharamshala 70 mm and Mandi 57 mm since Wednesday evening.

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The local MeT office issued a ‘yellow warning’ of heavy rains on Friday and predicted a wet spell in the state till August 30. As many as 729 roads are closed in the state and several areas were without electricity as 2,897 power transformers were damaged, said Principal Secretary (revenue) Onkar Chand Sharma.

Himachal Pradesh saw three major spells of heavy rains this monsoon. The first on July 9 and 10 led to large-scale destruction in Mandi and Kullu districts. Shimla and Solan districts were hit during the second spell on August 14 and 15 and Shimla city suffered heavy damage in the third spell on Tuesday night.