Manju Warrier, crew stranded in Himachal floods rescued; read details

Lahaul Spiti: Malayalam superstar Manju Warrier who was trapped in a remote village in Himachal Pradesh along with her 30-member crew following rain and landslides, has been rescued and being brought to Manali, Union Minister V Muraleedharan said on Tuesday.

Manju Warrier and her crew are among the over 127 people struck in Chhatru area of the tribal district of Lahaul Spiti, being brought to Manali, Chief Minister, Jai Ram Thakur told reporters in Shimla today. Meanwhile, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, who hails from Kerala said he had spoken to Thakur who assured him about the evacuation efforts of the actress and her film crew.

"Spoke to Shri @jairamthakurbjp ji, Hon'ble CM of Himachal Pradesh on the Malayalam film crew stuck in Chatru. Mandi district administration is in touch with the stranded crew members. Evacuation efforts are on to bring them back to Manali by today evening," Muraleedharan posted on his official twitter handle.

Manju was shooting for Malayalam film 'Kayyatam' along with filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan in Chhatru and reportedly reached out to her brother after an access road to the Mandi-Leh highway collapsed due to landslip, leaving her and the crew stranded.

Chief Minister Thakur said Mandi district administration is in touch with stranded crew members and officials of the district administration and disaster management authority had visited the region yesterday. Thakur said that after the rain fury in Himachal Pradesh a total of 1600 people were evacuated to safer locations in different parts of the state. A loss of over Rs 627 crore has been estimated so far.

He confirmed that during the monsoon season this year 63 people were killed in the region. The Chief Minister also said that the bad weather condition and heavy snowfall in higher reaches of the tribal district of Lahaul Spiti has hampered the normal life in the region.