Himachal monsoon death toll reaches 98; landslides, floods devastate state
Between June 20 and July 13, a total of 57 people died in rain-related incidents such as landslides (8), flash floods (15), cloudbursts (9), drowning (10), electrocution (4), and other rain-triggered accidents, including people falling from rocks or trees (10).
Road conditions have deteriorated severely, leading to 41 additional fatalities in traffic accidents, highlighting the dangers of travelling on hilly terrain during heavy rains.
The report revealed that Mandi district remains the worst affected, recording 21 deaths, followed by Kangra (14), Kullu (10), Chamba (9), Hamirpur (8) and others.
The death toll was further compounded by large-scale losses to livestock and property. The SDMA report states that 22,454 poultry birds and 954 domestic animals have died due to rain-triggered incidents.
In addition, more than 375 houses have sustained damage, of which 91 were completely destroyed and 279 partially damaged. Cow sheds, shops, schools, and agricultural lands were also swept away or severely impacted by the rains.
The total economic loss is estimated at a staggering Rs 770.96 crore across sectors, including PWD, water supply, power, education, health, fisheries, and urban development.
Rescue and restoration efforts are ongoing, with multiple relief camps established across affected areas. The State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) has advised people to avoid travel in vulnerable zones and remain alert as more rainfall is forecast in the region.
Meanwhile, heavy monsoon rains continued to lash Himachal Pradesh, severely disrupting public utilities and infrastructure across several districts.
According to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) report issued at 6:00 PM on Saturday, 196 roads including 1 National Highway have been blocked due to landslides and flooding, while 73 power distribution transformers (DTRs) and 787 water supply schemes have been reported disrupted.
The SEOC also confirmed that the majority of road blockages were reported from Mandi district, which alone accounts for 153 blocked roads, including the affected stretch of NH from Mandi to Kullu near 4 Miles and Bindravani. Other affected districts include Kullu (17 roads blocked), Kangra (12), Sirmaur (11), and Una (3).
While no fresh human casualties were mentioned in the public utility report itself, earlier updates from the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), reported a total of 98 deaths across Himachal Pradesh from June 20 to July 12.
Of these, 59 deaths were attributed to rain-related incidents including landslides, flash floods, and house collapses, while 41 people died in road accidents during the same period.
Restoration efforts are ongoing. According to SEOC officials, several water and sewerage systems affected particularly in Kullu and Mandi have been temporarily repaired to ensure continuity of services. However, access to many remote areas remains cut off.
Officials have advised residents and tourists to avoid unnecessary travel in hilly and vulnerable zones, as more rainfall is forecasted in the coming days. (ANI)
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Hans India
2 hours ago
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Himachal: 4 dead in rain-related incidents, Met issues ‘orange' alert for heavy rains in 3 districts
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The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
Himalayan floods are here to stay
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Power lines were torn down, communication snapped, and thousands stranded without food or medical aid. Farmers watched their orchards disappear. Small dhabas and homes — often the only sources of livelihood — were swept away in minutes. Damages across Himachal have reportedly crossed ₹2,100 crore, with Mandi bearing the brunt (State Disaster Management Authority estimates). Relief centres overflowed, and the overwhelmed local administration resorted to calling in the Army and NDRF. Yet, for many in the villages dotting the hill slopes, the help came too late. And with the monsoon only just beginning, the fear of further destruction looms large. And yet, the tragedy did not come as a surprise. It was foretold — not by oracles, but by decades of scientific warnings, community memory, and ecological common sense. The June disaster is not an exception. It is part of a deeper reckoning: the Himalayan flood is not on the horizon — it's already here. New normal The rising temperatures in the Western and Central Himalayas have fast-tracked glacial melt and made rainfall increasingly erratic. Scientific data show that the upper Himalayas have warmed by nearly 1.8 degrees Celsius in the past 50 years — almost twice the global average. The result? The monsoon arrives with violent bursts, glaciers retreat with alarming speed, and glacial lakes threaten sudden outbursts. The destruction in Mandi was just the latest flashpoint. And it won't be the last. Across regions such as Palampur and Barot, local communities no longer see floods and landslides as exceptions. Instead, they have become part of the annual cycle. As one Gaddi farmer observed, 'We don't question floods any more — they're part of childhood stories now.' Disasters are no longer occasional — they are woven into the rhythms of everyday life. Into calendars, rituals, memory, and even school routines. Anthropogenic climate legacy This is precisely the long arc of destruction the IPCC has been warning about. Emissions from the industrial era do not vanish with the monsoon; their impact lingers for decades, even centuries. The 2022 and 2023 IPCC reports confirm that we are already living with 'committed warming' — irreversible climate consequences locked in by past emissions. The glaciers now retreating will not return in our lifetimes. Flood-prone zones will continue to expand. Disasters don't merely continue; they accumulate. This means the children of the Himalayas will inherit not just a warmer world, but one marked by perpetual instability — unless the trajectory of response changes radically. Children of 1996 and beyond Here, the generational divide becomes stark. Those born before 1996 grew up in a relatively stable climate. For them, weather followed patterns, and seasons held meaning. 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Marx, too, offers a chilling echo: 'All that is holy becomes profane, and all that is solid melts into air.' Our sacred mountains are no longer revered — they are ripped apart to fuel roads, power plants, and tourist resorts. Hydropower projects blast riverbeds into submission; highways are cut crudely into unstable slopes. Tourism, rather than elevating the region, leaves behind plastic waste, broken trails, and ecological imbalance. We were told this was development. But each step forward in production — each road, tunnel, or intensified farming zone — erodes the Himalayan equilibrium. Infrastructure begets run-off. Deforestation triggers landslides. Marx's critique endures: the crisis isn't just about carbon emissions — it's rooted in a material system that prizes profit over preservation. Material production reimagined To respond meaningfully, we must reimagine how we build, where we build, and for whom. Infrastructure must be reoriented to work with nature, not against it. Rather than concrete storm drains that quicken run-off and erosion, flood management can adopt meandering stream corridors lined with native vegetation. Terraced forest buffers and marshlands at the foot of slopes can absorb excess rainwater and slow down deluge events. Homes and hamlets must be reconstructed atop engineered terraces — elevated, buttressed by stone retaining walls, and supported by deep-rooted grasses that anchor the soil. These are not utopian ideas. The State Disaster Mitigation Authority (SDMA) has outlined them in multiple reports. It also stipulates that no settlement should exist within five metres of natural drainage lines — a rule that remains widely violated. As for the roads that slice across hillsides, less than 30% adhere to basic slope drainage codes. Most rely on gravity — a dangerous gamble. Every monsoon, this negligence turns into a landslide headline. 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Regular training, community-based hazard mapping, and local radio alert systems are the need of the hour. Most important, people must also be taught what not to carry during evacuations. In many tragedies, precious minutes are lost trying to save religious artefacts or household heirlooms. Resilience must become muscle memory — not rhetoric. Liberation in adaptation The wisdom of both religious and political thought offers guidance. The Hindu invocation Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu — 'May all beings everywhere be happy and free' — reminds us that true liberation begins with security: a safe home, a reliable alert system, and a dignified livelihood. Marx reminds us that personal freedom is a mirage without collective structures. If unbridled capitalism tore through community solidarities, it is now tearing through the mountains. Real emancipation lies not in individual resilience but in collective systems: shared water buffers, state-funded terracing, and community-managed forests. The individual breathes easier when the village is strong. A call to action Mandi's devastation was not a glitch. It was a grim parable in a longer Himalayan narrative. And yet, the most dangerous mistake would be to respond with more of the same: dig, drain, and deny. We must build infrastructure that is flood-adaptive by design. Disaster mitigation agencies must move from planning to implementation — with funds, audits, and accountability. Preparedness must become a daily civic routine. And most critically, we must restore a material spirituality — one that regards the Himalayas not as a resource bank, but as a living cosmos. The 'disaster-evolved' generation already understands this intuitively. Their resilience is not a genetic trait — it is a forced adaptation. But it also holds the blueprint for the future. As the Bhagavata Purana warns, 'When earth falls into chaos, the cosmic waters rise.' But redemption does not lie in waiting for a saviour. It lies in what we choose to build now — with compassion, justice, and courage. If all that is solid melts into air, let the foundations we lay today rest not just on concrete, but on collective memory, cultural wisdom, and ecological harmony. This is Kalyug's challenge — and capitalism's reckoning. The Himalayan Pralay has arrived. Whether we drown in it or rebuild from it is entirely up to us. Tikender Singh Panwar is an author of three books on urbanisation — The Cities in Transition, The Radical City, Challenges of Urban Governance; He is a former Deputy Mayor of Shimla and currently a member of the Kerala Urban Commission; views are personal
India Gazette
11 hours ago
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