Operation to rescue 300 from high-altitude Spiti begins

Shimla: A tough operation to clear landslides in Himachal Pradesh’s high-altitude Spiti Valley began on Tuesday morning to rescue 300 people, including 75 women, by road from the snow-marooned region.

They have been stranded at the glacial-fed Chandertal for the past three days.

Largely tourists from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, those trapped also include three women foreigners -- two from Ireland and one from the US.

The district administration has stationed them in camps and houses of locals.

Acting Director General of Police Satwant Atwal, who has been monitoring the rescue operations across the state, said there are 225 men and 75 women camping in the Chandertal.

They include one child, three senior citizens and the rest between the age group of 18-60.

Thirty-five of them are from Himachal and a large number of shepherds with 1,500 sheep.

She said the district administration is in touch with the stranded people through satellite phone as the mobile network was hampered.

“While the first rescue team left for Chandertal from Losar with machinery at 5 a.m., the second team headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner Rahul Jain left from Kaza,” a government spokesperson told IANS.

He said a team of about 40 volunteers, comprising local youth from Pangmo, Losar and several villages of Spiti, have joined the rescue operation to assist the civil administration.

The Met office in Shimla on Tuesday predicted moderate to heavy rainfall accompanied with thunder at many places in Shimla, Sirmaur and Kinnaur districts.

However, in Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti districts, there are chances of moderate rainfall.