Rain damages houses in Palampur, Jaisinghpur

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, August 13

Heavy rain in the Palampur region of Kangra for the past 24 hours has disrupted normal life. Several houses in the lower areas of Palampur have also been damaged and the power supply and traffic have been disrupted.

Houses situated on the hilltop in Tambru village of Jaisinghpur suffered extensive damage this morning. Piar Singh Thakur, whose house was damaged, said that the PWD had constructed a road adjoining his house a few years ago, resulting in large scale soil erosion.

He said that the PWD had assured him of constructing a retaining wall to protect the buildings and check soil erosion. However, despite repeated visits to the PWD office and the local MLA, no wall had been constructed, he added.

He said that he and his son had invested their life savings in the construction of the house, which was on the verge of collapse because of unscientific cutting of hills and negligence of the PWD.

The Chhota Bhanghal area of Baijnath subdivision was also lashed by heavy rain in the past two days. Several roads in the valley were blocked, following heavy landslides. The movement of vehicular traffic to the internal parts of the area was suspended. No bus moved beyond Multhan.

75-yr-old woman dies in house collapse

Palampur: A 75-year-old woman, Bhotali Devi, was crushed to death at Radda village in Kural gram panchayat of Sulah subdivision here when her house collapsed because of heavy rains early this morning. The police said that it was a mud house and she was leaving alone there. Her body was taken out of the debris. Palampur SDM Dharmesh Ramotra said immediately directed the Naib Tehsildar and the Bhawarna police at Sulaha to visit the spot. The Naib Tehsildar called on her family members and gave them Rs20,000 as immediate relief. oc