960 rescued, over 10k shifted to safer locations in flood-hit regions of HP, Uttarakhand, Punjab: NDRF

Several houses have been damaged and a number of people are stranded at various places, it said. So far, NDRF has rescued more than 960 victims and shifted 10,363 personnel to safer places in these states, it said in an update issued at 7 pm.

The central force apart from state disaster response units, army, air force, police and local authorities are undertaking rescue operations in the affected areas. In Himachal Pradesh this week, rains triggered multiple landslides, blocking roads and bringing down houses. About 60 people are dead, and more feared buried under the rubble.

In Punjab, many villages in Hoshiarpur, Rupnagar and Gurdaspur districts were inundated following the release of excess water from the Bhakra and Pong dams. Torrential rain also ravaged Uttarakhand over the past two days, destroying buildings and causing landslides that breached the national highways to Badrinath, Kedarnath and Gangotri shrines.