The buildings were recently declared unsafe and vacated, he said. Photo: ANI Twitter
At least eight buildings, which had developed cracks after recent rains and were declared unsafe, collapsed on Thursday in Aani area of Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district, sending off huge clouds of dust and debris. There was no casualty.
Anni Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Naresh Verma, who was present at the spot, said the buildings housing shops, banks and other commercial establishments had developed cracks four-five days back.
The buildings were declared unsafe and were recently evacuated, he said.
The damage is being assessed and some other vulnerable buildings along the National Highway 305 at Ani have also been evacuated as a precautionary measure, the official said.
At least 120 people have died in rain-related incidents in the state this month, while a total of 238 people have died and 40 are still missing since the onset of monsoon in Himachal Pradesh on June 24.
Himachal received heavy rains three times this monsoon. First, on 9 and 10 July, large-scale devastation occurred in Mandi and Kullu districts. Shimla and Solan districts were affected in the second round on August 14 and 15 and Shimla city was heavily damaged in the third round on Tuesday night.
Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday said Rs 165.22 crore has been released to all the deputy commissioners and concerned departments of the state for restoration of damaged works.
He has claimed that the state has suffered a loss of Rs 10,000 crore so far due to heavy rains.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content was auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
first published: 24 August 2023 | 12:35 pm First