Intense monsoon rains have battered the northern Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, exacerbating ongoing environmental hazards and claiming at least nine lives while leaving 11 others unaccounted for, PTI reports.
The State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) indicates that more than 600 individuals remain isolated in remote areas due to the flooding and landslides triggered by the relentless overnight downpours and cloudbursts. Emergency response teams, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and local fire services, are actively engaged in evacuation operations despite the adverse conditions.
The severe weather has inflicted extensive damage across both regions, with flash floods sweeping away automobiles, demolishing homes, and disrupting critical infrastructure. In Uttarakhand, fatalities include three in Dehradun, two in Nainital, and one in Pithoragarh, alongside seven missing persons specifically in Dehradun. Numerous roads and bridges have been destroyed or submerged, while the Ganga and Yamuna rivers have swelled perilously close to danger levels.
A particularly striking incident unfolded in Dehradun, where the surging Tamsa River overwhelmed the revered Tapkeshwar Temple, engulfing a massive Hanuman statue up to its shoulders in murky waters. Bipin Joshi, the temple’s priest with over two decades of service, described the flooding as unprecedented in the last 25 to 30 years.
Shifting to Himachal Pradesh, a tragic landslide in Mandi district buried a family home, killing three a pair of women and a young child with four more persons reported missing. Shimla, the state capital, endured 142 mm of precipitation within a mere 12 hours, while a sudden deluge at Mandi’s Dharampur bus stand carried off multiple vehicles. Initial assessments point to damages in the crores.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and his Himachal counterpart, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, have conducted on-site inspections of the hardest-hit zones and apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of the unfolding emergency.
Meteorological experts attribute the extreme precipitation to a fierce clash between arid westerly winds and humid easterly currents. This season, Uttarakhand has recorded 22% more rain than average, compared to Himachal Pradesh’s 46% surplus. In the latter state alone, 417 fatalities have occurred from monsoon-linked disasters and traffic mishaps since June 20.