Evacuation operation over, 70000 tourists moved out safely: Sukhu

The operation to evacuate people and tourists stranded in Himachal Pradesh due to flash floods triggered by heavy rains has been successfully accomplished. Chief Minister, Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the state government safely evacuated around 70 thousand tourists and now only about 500 tourists have voluntarily decided to stay back in Himachal Pradesh, who were being taken care of and were being provided with food and other essential items. The State Government gave priority to the safety of life of all the tourists, rescue operations were started in the flood-affected areas on a large scale and it was successfully completed with the cooperation of all. About 15000 vehicles have been sent out from Himachal Pradesh. Along with this, electricity, water, and mobile services have been temporarily restored in 80 percent of the disaster-affected areas.

Efforts are being made to restore essential services in the remaining areas at the earliest, said the Chief Minster. He had all praise for the people of the State, various agencies of the Center Government and the State Government, NDRF, Indian Army, etc. for successfully conducting the rescue operations.

The calamity is massive and the loss due to floods is estimated to be around 8000 crores in the State. The people of the state have faced the fury with a brave heart and the state government fully stands with the people of the state in this hour of grief stated Sh. Sukhu added that the central government should also help the state government generously as soon as possible.