Second flood in 11 months, a litany of loss and deja vu for locals of Thunag, Sainj

A video of the July 9 incident of flooding had gone viral recently, showing uprooted trees and silted flood water swallowing everything in its path as it cut through Thunag market, which is located in Seraj constituency of Mandi district.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday visited flood-hit Thunag sub-division in Seraj constituency, and took stock of the situation. (Express photo)

Written by: Raakhi Jagga

5 min readLudhianaJul 14, 2023 10:16 AM IST First published on: Jul 14, 2023 at 07:58 AM IST

As water came rushing into Thunag market on Monday, July 10, it was a sense of déjà vu of sorts for many shopkeepers who operated their businesses from the area.

Around 11 months ago, on August 19 last year, a flash flood had ravaged the area. Water then, too, had come gushing in out of nowhere, inundating the market for days, damaging property worth lakhs and leaving the locals to pick up the threads of their lives later one day at a time.

“We had recovered over a period of time. Over a course of months, we put the pieces of our life together. Little did we know that we will face nature’s fury again in little more than 11 months,” said Gagan Thakur, who has an electrical equipment shop in Thunag market, one of the many to have suffered damages during Monday’s rain-induced floods.

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A video of the July 9 incident of flooding had gone viral recently, showing uprooted trees and silted flood water swallowing everything in its path as it cut through Thunag market, which is located in Seraj constituency of Mandi district. “The damage was unprecedented this time. In August, nature wasn’t this furious,” Thakur added.

Thunag, local shopkeepers said, has about 200 shops out of which nearly 70 have suffered losses, with 30 having been damaged completely. Apart from this, as per details, nearly 15 houses have been damaged by the floodwater, with three of them having been flattened completely. “We had learnt our lessons in August last year. Hence , people were not in the market after the heavy rain alert was sounded. Of the three completely damaged houses, one was under construction and was vacant , while two others had also been vacated completely by their occupants after the rainfall alert. There was no loss of life. We hope the administration compensates us for the monetary losses suffered,” Thakur said. He added that he himself had suffered a loss of more than Rs 3 lakh.

Administration officials said that relief work in Thunag was on in full swing and power and mobile connectivity has been restored on Thursday in the area, which the government has been pitching as an upcoming tourist hotspot.

A little distance away from Thunag, Janjheli Valley too suffered the brunt of floods and went without power for four days before supply was ultimately restored between July 12 and 13.

“Drinking water was not a problem for us when we were cut off. People in villages take water from springs or other natural resources. And we have learnt to live with minimum resources. Our only hope is that the damaged roads are repaired soon,” said Seema Thakur, a resident of Janjheli village of Mandi district.

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Elsewhere, in Sainj valley of Kullu, the devastation caused by the gushing water was major, much like the flash floods of August last year. Sainj, with a total population of around 34,000 people, saw its local market with 200 shops devastated. Of the 200 shops in the markets — including those that were eating joints sold ready made clothes, gifts or stuff of daily needs — nearly 43 were flattened by the floodwater.

Compared to this, the area, which as per official estimates has around 5000 houses, saw ony 35 house suffering some sort of damage. No loss of life, however, was reported from Sainj as residents had been warned about the heavy rain, houses vacated and shops closed. The only loss suffered, locals say, is monetary.

Sainj, however, continues to be cut off from rest of the district.

Interestingly, Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu of the Congress, and the state’s former BJP CM Jairam Thakur, both have been visiting flood-affected areas since July 11 and had been camping near Thunag. Sukhu, who was staying at Kullu and Mandi, has claimed that the state was everything it could to provide relief and rescue people and nearly 60,000 tourists have been evacuated out of the state so far in 60 hours. Sukhu left for Shimla Thursday evening.

Jairam Thakur’s native village is Tandi in Seraj constituency, which is close to the Thunag market. Thakur has been staying in Tandi, and in the middle of taking stock of relief efforts has been taking potshots at the ruling government. “When a red alert was sounded by the weather department then why were tourists still allowed to enter the state? Tourists continue to remain stuck in many locations where authorities haven’t been able to reach,” Jai Ram Thakur said.

Also Read | ‘It’s a total chaos… no monsoon preparedness meet this year in Himachal, shows Cong’s frivolousness’: Jai Ram Thakur

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday visited flood-hit Thunag sub-division in Seraj constituency, and took stock of the situation. Sukhu during his visit also announced that the state would provide Rs 1 lakh each to the families affected and also directed to channelize the Thunag rivulet flooding in the future.