Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who was stranded in tribal Kinnaur district for nearly 60 hours due to landslides triggered by incessant rains, was evacuated this morning.Over 1700 people are still stranded at various places.A chopper hired by the Congress party airlifted the chief minister this morning as rains abated and weather cleared.A dozen people, some old and
ailing were also brought to Rampur in the state helicopter.
Secretary, General Administration,
coordinating the rescue operations, Bharat Khera said that the state
chopper has been pressed into service and people stranded at Pooh in the border area and other places are being evacuated.
A large number of tourists, were stranded at various places in Kinnaur districts for the past three days and efforts were on to rescue them.
The Hindustan-Tibet National Highway, has been breached and blocked beyond Tapri at several points due to massive landslides triggered by incessant rain. Public Works Department and Border Roads Organisation-BRO-men are working
overtime to clear the road.
Kinnaur district received 204 mm of rains yesterday, which is unprecedented in the history of the tribal district.