During a visit to the site Deputy Commissioner, R.D. Nazim, said he had earlier been informed that only four houses had been washed away. It was an uphill task for the rescue and rehabilitation teams to reach the ravaged area due to very heavy rain.

Divisional Commissioner K.S. Narang and DIG mandi Range, Mr S.P. Kaushal, also reached the scene of the cloudburst.

Four hundred jawans of the ITBP, 80 personnel of the Himachal Police and 50 Home Guard jawans had been pressed into the rescue operation. Students and staff of Senior Secondary School, Gadsa, also joined in the rescue work.

The police learnt about the disaster when villagers reported seeing several bodies floating downstream in the swollen Parvati river in Kulu valley. The Parvati is a tributary of the Beas.

Most of the victims were labourers of Satyam Construction Company and Bholanath JP Ltd, engaged in execution of the Parvati hydro power project, official sources said.

Information about the incident could not reach the district headquarters immediately as all communication links were snapped and power supply was disrupted due to the flash floods, they said.

Later making a statement in the state Assembly, the Chief Minister said the affected families would be provided relief according to the relief manual.

he expressed grief over the tragedy and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families.

The leader of the BJP in the House, Mr P.K. Dhumal, Mr Mohinder Singh (HLM) and Mr Sukh Ram (HVC) also expressed shock and grief over the tragedy.

The dead were identified as Poonam (15), Gopal, his wife Pavitra, and three children Sanjay, Man Singh and Sonu; Tek Bahadur and his daughter Kali Devi.