HP rains: Two more bodies recovered from debris, death toll reaches 53

Two more bodies were recovered from a collapsed Shiv temple in Shimla on Tuesday taking the total number of bodies recovered in the twin landslide sites at Summerhill and Fagli increased to 16 officials saidThe death toll in incidents such as landslides cloudbursts and house collapse due to heavy rains since Sunday night has increased to 53Officials said that around 10 people are still feared buried under the debris in Shimlas Summerhill and FagliThe National Disaster Response Force NDRF and the Army along with police and State Disaster Response Force SDRF resumed rescue operations at Summerhill around 6 am Deputy Commissioner of Shimla Aditya Negi told PTIThe rescue operations were suspended on Monday night following heavy rainfallA total of 16 bodies have been recovered since Monday 11 at the Shiv temple and five at Fagli he said adding more than 10 people are feared still buried at the Shiv temple siteThe shrine was crowded with devotees offering prayers on an important day of the holy month of Sawan when the tragedy struck at around 715 amMeanwhile the Himachal Pradesh University has suspended teaching activities till August 19 in view of the torrential rains triggering landslides and blocking roadsThe University library would also remain closed till August 20However teaching and nonteaching staff would attend the university as usual a notification issued here on Tuesday saidAs many as 19 persons died in rainrelated incidents in Mandi district on Monday Deputy Commissioner Arindam Chaudhary had told PTISeven members of a family including a twoyearold child were killed in a landslide late on Sunday night in Seghli panchayat while six bodies were recovered at Sambhal near PandohEleven people died in the Solan districtSeven members of a family were killed in a cloudburst as two houses in Jadon village were washed away on Sunday nightThe Unesco world heritage ShimlaKalka railway line was also damaged near Shimlas Summerhill here after a landslide swept away a 50metre bridge leaving a portion of the track hangingThe heritage track has suffered damage at five to six places with the most affected stretch being between Shimla and Shoghi station master Joginder Singh saidAs many as 857 roads were blocked for vehicular traffic while 4285 transformers and 889 water supply schemes are disrupted in 11 out of 12 districts in the stateAccording to the state emergency operation centre the state has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 7171 crore since the onset of monsoon on June 24 till August 14A total of 170 incidents of cloudburst and landslide have been reported in the state this monsoon season and about 9600 houses damagedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever