Seven airlifted from high-altitude Spiti Valley, says Himachal CM

Shimla, July 11 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu on Tuesday said seven people were airlifted from high-altitude Spiti Valley from among some 300 tourists stranded there for the past three days after torrential rains that triggered floods and landslides and snapped road links.

The air rescue operation will continue on Wednesday, officials told IANS.

The rescued tourists were stranded at the glacial-fed Chandertal that experienced snowfall on Monday.

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

Sukhu, who conducted an aerial survey of Kullu, Mandi, and Lahaul-Spiti districts to assess the damage caused by torrential rains, told the media in Bhuntar that six helicopters were deployed to carry out rescue operations and evacuate the stranded tourists and local residents.

The first helicopter sortie took off in the morning to rescue stranded people at Chandertal but it had to return due to adverse weather conditions.

Later, the authorities prioritised the evacuation of elderly and sick from Chandertal. As the flashfloods had severely disrupted the communication network in the affected areas, two satellite phones have been provided to the local police personnel at Sainj for communicating during emergency.

The Chief Minister has assured the residents that all efforts were being made to restore these services at the earliest. Visiting various affected areas, including Bhuntar, Sainj, Kasol and Kheerganga in Kullu district, he interacted with people who suffered losses due to floods and expressed condolences to families who lost their family members.