Himachal rains: 8 buildings collapse in Kullu, no casualties

Shimla: At least eight buildings that had developed cracks and were declared unsafe following recent rains collapsed in the Anni area of Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district on Thursday, throwing up large clouds of dust and debris. There were no casualties.

The buildings -- housing shops, banks and other commercial establishments -- had developed cracks four to five days ago, Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Anni, Naresh Verma, who was at the spot, said.

The buildings were declared unsafe and vacated recently, he said.

The assessment of damage is being done and some other unsafe buildings along the National Highway-305 in Anni have also been vacated as a precautionary measure, the official added.

Rains, meanwhile, continued to lash several parts of Himachal. While Palampur received 137 mm of rain since Wednesday evening, Nahan received 93 mm, Shimla 79 mm, Dharamshala 70 mm and Mandi 57 mm.

As many as 120 people have died in rain-related incidents in the state this month while a total of 238 people have died and 40 are still missing since the onset of monsoon in Himachal Pradesh on June 24.

The rains have led to the closure of 709 roads in the state.

Himachal 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.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday said that Rs 165.22 crore had been released to all the deputy commissioners and the line departments in the state for the restoration of damaged works.

He has claimed that the state has suffered losses of Rs 10,000 crore so far due to the heavy rains.