Himachal Pradesh declares heavy rain as state calamity

Debris is scattered around a damaged house after cloudburst at Bairagarh village, in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, on Friday. Pic/PTI

The Himachal Pradesh government on Friday declared the massive damage caused by heavy rain as a state calamity. The state is also awaiting a response from the Centre to declare the disaster in Himachal Pradesh as a national calamity.

The Chhattisgarh government has provided Rs 11 crore towards the calamity relief fund of Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said earlier in the day. Heavy rain has lashed the hill state since Sunday. The death toll from this week's devastation rose to 77, and four more people are still feared buried in the temple debris in Shimla.

Meanwhile, the Union Home Ministry's data showed that 2,038 people have lost their lives due to floods, lightning and landslides between April 1 and August 17. Bihar has reported the highest casualty figure of 518, followed by Himachal Pradesh at 330.

Yellow alert in 18 Odisha districts

Several areas in Odisha received heavy rainfall in the past 24 hours, an official said on Friday. The India Meteorological Department has issued a yellow warning of light to moderate rain with thundershowers and lightning in 18 districts of Odisha, including the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack on Friday.

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