Cloudburst washes away 3 in Kullu’s Garsa valley

Abhinav Vashisht

Kullu, July 17

Three workers of a contractor engaged by the HP State Forest Development Corporation Ltd were washed away in the Garsa valley after a cloudburst struck Pancha Nullah uphill, a feeder tunnel of the under construction Parbati-II hydel project at Shilagarh, undertaken by the NHPC in Bhuntar subdivision of this district yesterday night.

Six persons were reportedly trapped in the gushing water and three were washed away. The bodies of the victims were recovered today. The deceased have been identified as Vicky (18) from Sirmaur district and Lal Peer (45) and Kishan (55), both from Nepal.

Parbati GM AK Singh confirmed that the water level rose suddenly in the Pancha Nullah, where work of construction of barriers was being going on. There were also reports of loss of equipment. He said that the exact losses had not yet been assessed by the team of engineers who visited the site.

In another incident, debris and slush damaged around five houses in Lapas village in Manikaran valley yesterday. Around 35 persons of five families managed to flee from the slush of mud and downpour due to cloudburst in the higher reaches.

Another cloudburst in Shenshar Nullah in Sainj reportedly damaged some portions of the under-construction 100 MW hydel project undertaken by Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (HPPCL). Makhan Singh, GM of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), a private company engaged in the project, stated that a temporary residential colony at Samba and a crusher were damaged.

He said workers fled to the nearby jungle and no loss of life was reported. Flood gates of the Siund dam were opened. The residents of villages downstream had been told to vacate their houses as a precautionary measure.

There have been reports of damage to cash crops and agriculture land in various parts of this district due to heavy rains and cloudbursts during the past couple of days.

Kullu DC Rakesh Kanwar said a report of the damages incurred due to flash floods and rains would be prepared after reports from various departments were received.