Shimla, August 25: At least 367 people have died in Himachal Pradesh in rain-related incidents this year since the onset of monsoon, the State Disaster Management Authority said on Friday. In accordance with official data, an average of about seven individuals have been losing their lives daily in rain-linked occurrences within the hilly state since the monsoon's commencement on June 24. Principal Secretary Disaster Management Authority, Onkar Chand Sharma said, "During two months till yesterday, 367 people lost their lives with 40 people are still missing. Nearly seven people have lost lives daily due to the heavy rain and other natural disasters in the state."

Himachal has been battered by heavy rainfall for the past several weeks and the state has suffered great loss of life as well as property in various rain-related incidents, such as landslides, cloudbursts, flash floods, etc. Apart from casualties, the disaster management said that the monetary loss is expected to reach nearly Rs 12,000 crore. "A loss of over Rs 8,500 crore has been estimated till now, which will reach nearly Rs 12,000 crore. We had evacuated nearly 3000 people earlier to safer locations in Kangra and nearly 1000 people were sent to safe places in Mandi,” Onkar Chand Sharma said. Himachal Pradesh: NDRF Rescues 51 People Stranded At Cloudburst Incident Sites In Mandi

Over the span of two weeks, Himachal Pradesh has witnessed significant landslides occurring in various locations, the most recent being in Kullu on Thursday. Several houses collapsed after landslide struck Kullu district on Thursday, killing over 20 people. An earlier landslide occured at Krishna Nagar in Shimla, reducing several houses into rubble and claiming several lives. “So far over 2,300 houses have been completely damaged and nearly 10,000 houses have been partially damaged, the total number of houses collapsed is 12,000 in the state," Onkar Sharma said. Himachal Pradesh Landslide Video: Buildings Collapse in Kullu After Heavy Rains, Terrifying Visuals Surface

He said, over 700 roads are closed and several houses were evacuated including 250 people were shifted to safer locations in Shimla city. "The rescue and search operation in the temple landslide in summer hill was completed yesterday and all 20 missing people were retrieved.” Sharma further added. The state government has constituted teams to find the causes of the destruction and is planning to involve experts from different states of the country.

“We are also looking for the experts and scientists to find out the causes of the damages. We will be taking help from the IITS, NITs, Geological Survey of India and State geologists in the region, we shall try to find out the causes and will plan for the future,” he said further. Meanwhile, out of the total deaths as per data available with the state disaster management authority, 136 people have lost their lives due to landslides and flash floods. A total of 231 people have lost their lives due to road accidents or other reasons, the department added.

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