29 killed in Himachal Pradesh rains, nine of them in Shimla landslides
Shimla (PTI): At least 29 people were killed in Himachal Pradesh, nine of them buried under the rubble of a temple and after another landslip in Shimla, as rains wreaked havoc in the state, triggering landslides that blocked key roads and brought down houses, officials said on Monday.
Up to 15 more people are feared trapped under the debris of the Shiv temple in Shimla's Summer Hill area. The shrine was crowded with devotees, offering prayers on an important day of the Sawan period.
This was one of the two landslides reported from the state capital.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said nine bodies have been pulled out of the debris from a Shiv temple in the Summer Hill area that collapsed and the other site in the Fagli area where several houses were buried under mud and slush.
All schools and colleges in the state were closed on Monday. According to the state emergency operation centre, 752 roads were closed in the state because of the calamity.
In Solan district's Jadon village, seven members of a family were killed in a cloudburst on Sunday night.
Two houses in the district were washed away following the cloudburst. While six people were rescued, seven others were killed, a police official said.
The dead have been identified as Harnam (38), Kamal Kishore (35), Hemlata (34), Rahul (14), Neha (12), Golu (8) and Raksha (12), Superintendent of Police, Solan, Gaurav Singh said.
In Balera panchayat of the district, two children died as their makeshift house collapsed in a landslide and the body of one of them has been recovered. Another woman died in a landslide in Banal village of Ramsheher tehsil, said Deputy Commissioner of Solan Manmohan Sharma.
The chief minister visited the site of the temple collapse in Shimla city's Summer Hill area and said all efforts are being made to rescue people buried underneath the debris.
"Distressing news has emerged from Shimla, where the Shiv Mandir at Summer Hill collapsed as a result of the heavy rainfall. As of now, nine bodies have been retrieved. The local administration is diligently working to clear the debris in order to rescue individuals who may still be trapped. Om Shanti," he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In another post on the microblogging site, he said, "Devastating rains led to a landslide near the Shiv Temple in Shimla's Summerhill area, burying many people. Some people have died. I am present at the spot and rescue work is underway on a war footing. All possible efforts are being made to rescue the people buried under the debris."
Deputy Commissioner of Shimla Aditya Negi told PTI that many people were feared buried in the two landslides in Summer Hill and Fagli areas. Rescue operations are going on in full swing, the official said.
In Hamirpur, Deputy Commissioner Hemraj Bairwa said that three persons have died due to incessant rains in the district while two are missing. He appealed to all the residents of the district to take special precautions in view of the calamity.
One person was swept away by the flood waters while two others were rescued on Sunday night. In another incident, an elderly woman was buried alive while her son was rescued after their house collapsed due to rains, the official said.
In Rangas area of the district, a woman was killed in a landslide, he said.
Seven members of a family, including a two-year-old, were killed in a landslide late on Sunday night in the Seghli panchayat of Mandi district. Three persons were rescued, Deputy Commissioner Arindam Chaudhary said.
Heavy rains battered Himachal Pradesh since Sunday, triggering landslides that blocked several roads, including the key Shimla-Chandigarh road. In total 752 roads are blocked in the state as per the state emergency operation centre.
Kangra received 273 mm of rain since Sunday evening followed by Dharamshala 250 mm, Sundernagar 168 mm, Mandi 140 mm, Jubbarhatti 132 mm, Shimla 126 mm, Berthin 120 mm, Dhaulakaun 111 mm and Nahan 107 mm.
The weather department has issued a yellow warning for heavy rains on Tuesday and predicted a wet spell in the state till August 18.
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Two women died, 6 taken ill after ‘consuming’ mango kernel gruel in Odisha
Bhubaneswar/Berhampur/Phulbani, Nov 1: At least two tribal women died and six others fell ill after allegedly consuming mango kernel gruel in Odisha's Kandhamal district, police said on Friday.
Consumption of mango kernel, prepared by boiling the seeds in water, was reported from Mandipanka village in the district's Daringbadi block, an officer said.
While one of the two women (Rasmita Pattamajhi aged 22) died on Thursday night at Mohana community health centre in Gajapati district where she was undergoing treatment after "consuming the gruel", another woman (Runu Majhi aged 29) breathed her last while being taken to MKCG Medical College Hospital in Berhampur, Gadapur sarpanch Kumari Mallick said.
Six others, who fell ill after allegedly consuming the gruel, were admitted to a hospital and their condition was critical, said Dr Subrat Das, a medical officer of the health facility.
"All the six have been admitted to the hospital in a serious condition. We suspected that they fell sick due to food poisoning. The exact cause of the illness will be ascertained after completion of the investigation," he added.
The six were identified as Pravati Patmajhi, Dranglu Patmajhi, Tuni Majhi, Susama Patmajhi, Jita Majhi and Jibanti Majhi, Daringbadi BDO Pritiranjan Ratha said.
Meanwhile, the Odisha government has rejected allegations that tribal people have been consuming mango kernel gruel due to a lack of access to rice under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Rasmita's husband Anil Pattamajhi alleged that they were denied rice under PDS for the last three months because of which his wife consumed mango kernel.
However, Kandhamal district magistrate-cum-collector Amrit Ruturaj dismissed the allegations, saying the family received rice according to PDS norms. "We are awaiting the postmortem report to determine the facts," the collector added.
Deputy chief minister Pravati Parida, who is also in-charge of the women and child development department said, "It is not a case of malnutrition. Mango kernel is part of their (tribal) regular diet. Sometime, the mango kernels get contaminated and lead to such unfortunate incidents. We have been actively spreading awareness about the risks of food contamination."
Health and family welfare minister Mukesh Mahaling, who ordered a departmental inquiry into the death of two tribal women, said a team from the district headquarters hospital and another local team are at the spot to assess the situation and conduct a detailed probe into the incident.
Mahaling said that the government was waiting for the postmortem report for a confirmation on the cause of the deaths. "People in Kandhamal consume mango kernel. It is common in that region and there also have been reports of health complications linked to it in the past," he said.
The Kandhmal incident reminds a similar tragedy involving mango kernel deaths in Kashipur block of Rayagada district, where at least 20 people died in 2001, and two more succumbed to mango kernel consumption in 2016. Additionally, mango kernel has claimed lives in Laxmipur in Koraput district in 2012 and 2013, as well as in Jharigaon in Nabarangpur district in 2018.
