Monsoon Tragedy in Himachal: 171 Dead in Rain‑Related Disasters by July 16

Shimla (The Uttam Hindu): Heavy rains that occurred across the country between April 1 and July 16 have claimed 171 lives in Himachal Pradesh. In terms of deaths due to rain, Himachal Pradesh is second only to Andhra Pradesh where 258 people have died during the same period. This information was given by the Home Ministry.

This figure was shared in the Lok Sabha today in response to a question by MPs Sudhir Gupta, Manish Jaiswal, Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane and Chavan Ravindra Vasantrao. According to the information, apart from the death of 171 people, 23,818 cattle also died, which is the highest in the country. A total of 1,528 houses have been damaged due to rain in the state. A total of 51,699 cattle died due to rain across the country, and Himachal Pradesh's share was 46.1 percent.

After Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, 148 people lost their lives in Madhya Pradesh. After that 101 people lost their lives in Bihar and 89 in Karnataka. A total of 1,297 people lost their lives across the country. 33 people lost their lives in the neighbouring state of Jammu and Kashmir and 24 in Punjab. A total of 92,663 houses were damaged in this rain across the country, out of which the maximum 39,810 houses were damaged in Assam.

Besides, crops over 1.54 lakh hectares were damaged across the country, with Maharashtra suffering the most damage at 91,429 hectares, followed by Assam at 29,714.89 hectares and Karnataka at 18,097 hectares. Punjab too suffered damage to crops over 3,569.11 hectares. An Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) has been constituted for Himachal Pradesh to visit the affected areas of the state to assess the damage caused by flash floods, cloudbursts and landslides.