SHIMLA: One more body was retrieved from the debris where a landslide had hit the Shiv Bawdi temple in Summerhill area of Shimla on August 14.
On the sixth day of the search operation, the team succeeded in retrieving one more body. The deceased has been identified as Ish Sharma whose father professor P L Sharma and mother have also lost their lives in the same incident. The body of his mother was recovered on August 15 and his father on Thursday.
With the recovery of a body now the death toll in the Summerhill incident has reached 17 while the death toll in Shimla city has reached 24. After conducting the postmortem, the body would be handed over to family members on Sunday and the cremation will take place in Bilaspur.
The search operation had started at 7.30am on Saturday and the body was recovered in the afternoon.
On Friday, two bodies of Shankar Negi of Burua village of Kinnaur and his nephew Avinash Negi, a resident of Yula in Kinnaur were found. Avinash Negi was Physical Training Instructor (PTI) at Boileauganj school in Shimla.
Before leaving for duty, Avinash Negi went to visit the Shiv Bawdi temple and became a victim of the incident. He has left behind his wife and 2 sons of 2 years of age.
The district administration has intensified the search operation to find the people suspected to be buried under the debris after the landslide. Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, Aditya Negi said that about 228 jawans are engaged in the search operation. Around 4 people are said to be missing in Summerhill landslide spot.
Heavy rains are expected in Himachal Pradesh for the next two days. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert regarding this.
Due to the incessant rains expected in the next 24 hours, there may be surface runoff or flooding in some fully saturated watersheds and low-lying areas.
The Meteorological Department has put Shimla, Sirmaur and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh on high alert in view of the threat of moderate to high floods in and adjoining areas. According to the department, in the weather forecast for the next two days, six districts including Kangra, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur, Bilaspur and Solan have been kept on orange alert, while the rest of the districts, except Kinnaur, are on yellow alert. There may be heavy rains in Orange Alert districts and moderate to heavy rains in Yellow Alert districts.
