Amid heated debate, the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday passed the Himachal Pradesh Legislative (Allowances and Pension) Amendment Bill, 2024, to deprive MLAs disqualified under the anti-defection law of pensionary benefits, a move intended to discourage political turncoats.
Traffic on the Chandigarh-Manali national highway between Mandi and Kullu was blocked on Thursday following landslides in Himachal Pradesh owing to heavy rainfall, police said.
Heavy damage to public and private property was reported on Thursday owing to the downpour that triggered a flash flood downstream in the Beas River from Palchan to Patlikuhal in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district.
The Meteorological (MeT) office in Shimla has issued an ‘orange’ alert for heavy to very heavy rain, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, at isolated places in the state for the next 24 hours.
The six Congress MLAs who faced action are Sudhir Sharma (Dharamsala) and Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), both ministerial aspirants; Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Badsar); Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti); Chaitnaya Sharma (Gagret); and Devender Bhutto (Kutlehar).
Amid political crisis, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday said that he has not resigned and the Congress government would complete its full five-year term.
In a major political development in the ongoing crisis in Himachal Pradesh, state assembly Speaker on Wednesday suspended 15 BJP legislators, including Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur.
A day after six Congress MLAs cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections, Vikramaditya Singh, the son of six-time Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh resigned on Wednesday from the Council of Ministers.
He told the media after meeting the Governor that the Congress has lost the majority in the House of 68 and lost the moral right to be in power after six of its legislators cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha poll.
Amid opposition BJP’s assertion that the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh has lost majority in the House, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu claimed on Tuesday that the CRPF and Haryana Police convoy took away five-six legislators.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday celebrated Diwali with soldiers in the remote and strategic area Lepcha in Himachal Pradesh, close to the India-China border.
Ten students of IIT-Mandi in Himachal Pradesh have been suspended from academics and hostel till December for ragging freshers, the institute said on Wednesday.
In another landslide in Himachal Pradesh capital, at least five houses collapsed in the Krishna Nagar area close to the Old Bus Stand on Tuesday, officials said.
At least 22 people were killed in Himachal Pradesh on Monday owing to the heavy rainfall for the past two days that triggered statewide flash floods and landslides, officials said.
Saying the state faced the worst calamity in 50 years, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu on Sunday launched the Aapda Rahat Kosh -- 2023 website, a digital platform aimed at aiding the disaster-affected people of the state.
The operation to evacuate locals and tourists stranded in Himachal Pradesh due to flash floods triggered by heavy rains has been completed, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu said on Saturday.
He said since Losar supports good government accommodation and healthcare facilities, they would be kept there and the next course of their departure towards their destinations would be decided later.
Rescuers in Himachal Pradesh have evacuated more than 50,000 tourists, comprising Israelis, from across the state, and the road connectivity to Manali has been restored as well as efforts are underway to restore the network in Kasol and its nearby places, officials said on Thursday.
A tough operation to clear landslides in Himachal Pradesh’s high-altitude Spiti Valley began on Tuesday morning to rescue 300 people, including 75 women, by road from the snow-marooned region.
Over 250 tourists have been stationed in nearby places in Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul-Spiti district amid snowfall in the region after torrential rains hampered the clearing of massive landslides that snapped road links, rescuers said on Monday.
With the Met Office predicting heavy to extremely heavy rain on a third consecutive day on Monday in Himachal Pradesh that previously caused statewide landslides and blocking of highways and link roads, the government advised to avoid travel until it is extremely necessary.
In a tough operation in the Himalayas, rescuers on Sunday rescued nearly 200 tourists stranded in the vicinity of the glacial-fed Chandertal or moon lake in Himachal Pradesh's Spiti Valley owing to heavy rain that triggered snapping of road links, officials said.
Thirty college students, who were travelling from Spiti to Manali, have been rescued to safety after snapping of the road link owing to flash floods and landslides in high mountains in Himachal Pradesh, officials said on Sunday.
Five pedestrians were crushed to death and three injured when an SUV hit them while they were walking on the Shimla-Chandigarh national highway in Dharampur town on Tuesday, police said.
