Monsoon fury in Himachal: 15 Russian tourists stranded in Kasol, police trying to establish contact

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India]: Acting DGP of Himachal Pradesh, Satwant Atwal Trivedi, on Tuesday said that 15 Russian tourists were reportedly stranded in Kasol, and Police are trying to establish contact with them.

“We received info from the Russian Embassy that 15 Russian tourists are stranded in Kasol. We are trying to establish contact and once we will be able to contact the tourists we will inform the Embassy about their well-being,” said Acting DGP, Satwant Atwal Trivedi.

“The team is deployed everywhere in the state. We are continuously working to ensure the safety of the people. We have set up four lines and trying to contact people across the country to inform them about their families.

200 people have been contacted since morning and their family has been informed about their well-being. We are also contacting the embassies,” she said further.

Detailing further about the ongoing relief and rescue operations being conducted in the state amidst heavy rainfall, Trivedi said that they were working 24×7 and trying to contact people across the country to inform them about their families well-being. They are also trying to contact hotels seeking details of any tourists stranded there.

Notably, incessant rains continuing for past few days have wreaked havoc in the hill state claiming 20 lives over the past 48 hours.

The rains have wreaked havoc in Himachal Pradesh triggering landslides, causing power disruption, blocking roads, and damaging bridges. Nature’s fury in the state has claimed 20 lives over the past 48 hours. Tourists were stranded in parts of the hill state, with the loss of infrastructure estimated at between Rs 3,000 crore and Rs 4,000 crore.

Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri took stock of the relief camps at Mandi on Tuesday and reached the Sadar Vyas Relief Camp where arrangements have been made to accommodate 200 to 300 people.

Agnihotri interacted with people, inquired about their difficulties, assured them that all necessary assistance would be provided to them soon. The Deputy Chief Minister said that all possible help is being extended to people from the state government. He also appealed to the central government for help.

“These are the people whose houses have been affected by floods. Every possible help is being given to these people from our side and from the side of the administration, government assistance can also be announced. We want the central government to help us because the whole country is trying to extend a helping hand towards Himachal at this time. Only with the help of NDRF will not work, financial assistance should also be given to the government, we wanted the government to declare this as of now and provide some help,” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said that his team is visiting different areas of Himachal to review the situation. “We are visiting different areas of Himachal, at this time we have reached Mandi where the situation here is being reviewed, the officials are also present with us,” he said.

Speaking about the problems faced by the hill state given the heavy rainfall, Agnihotri said, “Our routes have been affected due to heavy rains, due to which HRTC buses have been stopped and will be stopped till the situation becomes normal. There are some problems regarding drinking water, but we are constantly engaged in fixing them.”

Addressing the tourists who are stuck at various places in the hill state, he said, “I want to tell the people of the tourists who are stuck here that there is nothing to worry about, the situation is normal…all the roads will be fixed, they will be allowed to move.”

“Due to heavy rains, there was a communication breakdown along with voice, due to which we have provided satellite phones to our officers so that they can stay in touch with each other,” he said.

“We are hopeful that the situation will return to normal in Himachal in the next 72 hours,” he added.