Himachal Man Saves 4 Lives During Disaster, Daughter Shows Courage Too

A man and his daughter from a village in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district demonstrated rare courage during the dreadful night of June 30 by not only defeating death but also saving the lives of four people.

Cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides swallowed houses and lands on the fateful night killing 15 people, injuring five, and forcing search operations to trace 27 missing people who were washed away in the intervening night of June 30 and July 1 in different parts of Mandi district.

People ran helter-skelter as gushing waters and debris started entering the houses. Twenty people took shelter in the house of Bharat Raj while the fury of water and debris increased.

Bharat Raj, his daughter Tanuja, sister Twinkle, mother Mansa Devi, grandfather Hari Singh and another woman Radhu Devi were bogged in the debris and death stared in their faces.

Bharat Raj showed rare courage and pulled out Twinkle, Mansa Devi, Hari Singh and Radhu Devi from the debris but Tanuja was swept a few metres away, said villagers.

Tanuja sank chest deep in the debris. She struggled hard and finally came out with the help of a piece of a log and reached a safer location.

It was nothing but a miracle as everybody feared that she would not survive. It was a highly emotional moment when she got reunited with her family members.

All the saved persons were taken to a temporary shelter at Bagsyad School and are still there.

Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur met Bharat Raj, Tanuja and other family members and praised the father-daughter duo for the rare courage they showed.

Tanuja said that they have lost everything and have no means of livelihood which was affecting her studies. She urged the government to bear the expenses of her education and take immediate steps for her family's rehabilitation.

Thakur, who has been intensively campaigning to reach out to the affected people and share their grief and provide relief for the past 10 days, reached his native village Tandi and found that his ancestral house was also damaged. It developed cracks and about half of the orchard has also been washed away.

He said that his Seraj constituency was the worst affected and suffered losses to the tune of Rs 500 crore and claimed that it is likely to increase to Rs 1,000 crore.

The BJP leader, who is also a former chief minister, said that houses, cultivable land and orchards have been washed away and the livelihood of the people was affected. He urged the government to speed up the rehabilitation works and construct prefabricated houses for homeless people.

Revenue and Horticulture Minister Jagat Singh Negi on Thursday said classes of Thunag College of Horticulture and Forestry in Seraj with 300 students on roll would be shifted to Sundernagar as holding classes in Thunag was no longer feasible.

The calamity has also caused extensive damage to property, affecting 1,184 houses, 710 cow sheds and 201 shops. Seven hundred eighty livestock have also perished in the disaster. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)