Dozens feared dead as flash floods and landslides rip through Himalayas in northern India
A search operation with drones was underway to trace about 30 people who went missing following the cloudbursts and subsequent landslides that wreaked havoc in Kangra, Chamba, Shimla and Mandi districts, local officials said.
Hundreds of houses, shops, roads and bridges in Himachal Pradesh were washed away after 23 flash floods and 16 landslides, triggered by the torrential weather, lashed the region since last week.
Authorities said about 19 cloudbursts since last week have killed dozens of people. At least 80 people have died in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh since 20 June, the state disaster management authority said on Tuesday.
The India Meteorological Department has forecast continued heavy rainfall in multiple districts of the state, raising concerns about further flooding and landslides. A yellow warning of heavy rain at isolated places has been issued for the state till 10 July.
One of the worst-hit districts was Mandi, which saw massive destruction and about 14 deaths on a single day last week following 10 incidents of cloudbursts. The town's MP, actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut, triggered outrage over the weekend after claiming she did not 'not have any funds for disaster relief or hold any cabinet post'.
"MPs have work that is limited to parliament. We are very small in the scheme of things," she said while inspecting flood-affected area in her constituency.
About 250 personnel from the national and state disaster response force, the Indian Army and home guards have been pressed in the rescue operation to find the 30 missing people, according to reports. More than 240 roads were shut in the state, with 170 of those being in Mandi district.
"The administration is working around the clock to normalise public life. We request the public to remain calm and cooperate. Relief will reach every affected person, and all essential services will be restored at the earliest," Apoorv Devgan, the deputy commissioner of Mandi, told the Indian Express newspaper.
Flash floods and cloudbursts are common in India's mountain states such as Himachal Pradesh during the monsoon season. Deforestation to make way for infrastructure development and expansion of hydel power projects has often led to calls by critics for environmental accountability and disaster preparedness in such states.
Heavy rainfall and flooding last month l ed to dozens of deaths in India's northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram. The devastation comes just days after rainwaters inundated Mumbai and other parts of western India with the early onset of the monsoon season.
Studies show the monsoon in South Asia is getting worse due to the climate crisis, with a rise in the number of "extreme rain days", which means more rainfall falling over shorter periods, overwhelming the infrastructure.
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