One More Body Recovered After Temple Collapses In Heavy Rain In Shimla

With the recovery of one more body from a collapsed Shiv temple in Shimla on Tuesday, the total number of bodies recovered in the twin landslide sites at Summerhill and Fagli increased to 15 while more than 10 people are still feared buried under the debris, officials said.

The number of deaths in incidents such as landslides, cloudburst and house collapse due to heavy rains since Monday has increased to 52.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Army along with police and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) resumed rescue operations at Summerhill around 6 am and recovered one body, Deputy Commissioner of Shimla Aditya Negi told PTI.

In total 15 bodies have been recovered since Monday - 10 at the Shiv temple and five at Fagli. More than 10 people are feared buried at the Shiv temple site according to the local councilor but the number is not verified, he added.

The rescue operations were suspended on Monday night following heavy rainfall.

The shrine was crowded with devotees, offering prayers on an important day of the holy month of Sawan when the tragedy struck at around 7:15 am.

The UNESCO world heritage Shimla-Kalka railway line was also damaged near Summer Hill here after a landslide swept away a 50-metre bridge, leaving a portion of the track hanging in the air.

The concrete bridge near Summer Hill, 6 km from Shimla, got completely destroyed and the heritage track has suffered damage at five or six places and the most affected stretch is between Shimla and Shoghi, station master Joginder Singh said.

As many as 857 roads were blocked for vehicular traffic and 4,285 transformers and 889 water supply schemes are disrupted in 11 out of 12 districts in the state. Details of Kullu districts are still awaited.

So far, the state has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 7,171 crore since the onset of monsoon on June 24 till August 14, according to the state emergency operation centre.

A total of 170 incidents of cloudburst and landslide have been reported in the state this monsoon season and about 9,600 houses partially or completely damaged.

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