Himachal Pradesh: Chandrabhaga river blocked after landslide in Lahaul-Spiti; CM talks to Amit Shah

SHIMLA: A landslide blocked the flow of the Chandrabhaga river in Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul-Spiti on Friday morning, leading to the flooding of some homes and fields in two villages, an official said.

Residents of some villages downstream were also evacuated as a precautionary measure, State Disaster Management Director Sudesh Kumar Mokhta said.

Four houses of Tarang and Jasrat villages were affected due to the flooded water after the blockage of the Chandrabhaga river, he said.

Mokhta stated that the two villages were hit due to the flooded water, and four houses of Sukh Chand, Devi Chand, Ramesh Lal and Prem Lal got affected.

The Chandrabhaga river was blocked near Jahalman village between Nalada and Jasarat in Udaipur subdivision, Udaipur resident Bir Bahadur Singh said.

Five cowsheds, a sheep and a calf were also washed away, and a 30 bigha agricultural land got flooded, Mokhta added.

The soil study team has reached the incident site to inspect the area, he said.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team has been requested to be on standby mode at Kullu, Mokhta added.

However, later he said that Chandrabagha water flow started over the landslide blockade after some time.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said in the state assembly that he spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah after the Chandrabhaga blockage triggered by landslide and Shah assured him of every possible help, he added.

Meanwhile, a high-level team under the leadership of Tribal Development Minister Ram Lal Markanda, consisting of Chief Secretary Ram Subhag Singh and Director General of Police Sanjay Kundu, reviewed the blockage of the Chandrabhaga river at Nalada village, caused due to massive landslides, Thakur was later quoted as saying in a statement.

The chief minister said that on receiving the information of the incident, the team was immediately sent to take stock of the situation.

He said there was a gradual improvement in the flow of the river.