3 dead and a dozen missing as torrential rains cause flash flood in north India
NEW DELHI (AP) — Three people died and at least a dozen are feared missing after being swept away in a flash flood triggered by torrential rains in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, local authorities said on Thursday.
A rescue operation has been launched to trace the missing, said Dinesh Sharma, a local government spokesperson in Kangra. The town is about 18 kilometres (11 miles) from Dharamshala, a popular tourist destination known for its Tibetan culture and as the home of Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama.
Sudhir Sharma, a lawmaker from Dharamshala, said in a social media post that at least 15 to 20 workers resting in a temporary shed near the site of a hydroelectricity power project were swept away after water levels at a local reservoir rose suddenly late Wednesday.
In a status report issued Thursday, the state government confirmed at least eight people were missing in Kangra and three in nearby Kullu. The authorities have evacuated around 50 stranded tourists to safer places in the state.
The state government confirmed three people died, but did not provide details.
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.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
3 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Flossie becomes a hurricane off Mexico's Pacific coast after rapidly strengthening
This satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Tropical Storm Barry, Sunday, June 29, 2025. (NOAA via AP) flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: : sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false :
Winnipeg Free Press
5 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
An ancient village in the Himalayas ran out of water. Then, it moved and started over
SAMJUNG, Nepal (AP) — The Himalayan village of Samjung did not die in a day. Perched in a wind-carved valley in Nepal's Upper Mustang, more than 13,000 feet (3,962 meters) above sea level, the Buddhist village lived by slow, deliberate rhythms — herding yaks and sheep and harvesting barley under sheer ochre cliffs honeycombed with 'sky caves' — 2,000-year-old chambers used for ancestral burials, meditation and shelter. Then the water dried up. Snow-capped mountains turned brown and barren as, year after year, snowfall declined. Springs and canals vanished and when it did rain, the water came all at once, flooding fields and melting away the mud homes. Families left one by one, leaving the skeletal remains of a community transformed by climate change: crumbling mud homes, cracked terraces and unkempt shrines. A changing climate The Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountain regions — stretching from Afghanistan to Myanmar — hold more ice than anywhere else outside the Arctic and Antarctic. Their glaciers feed major rivers that support 240 million people in the mountains — and 1.65 billion more downstream. Such high-altitude areas are warming faster than lowlands. Glaciers are retreating and permafrost areas are thawing as snowfall becomes scarcer and more erratic, according to the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development or ICMOD. Kunga Gurung is among many in the high Himalayas already living through the irreversible effects of climate change. 'We moved because there was no water. We need water to drink and to farm. But there is none there. Three streams, and all three dried up,' said Gurung, 54. Climate change is quietly reshaping where people can live and work by disrupting farming, water access, and weather patterns, said Neil Adger, a professor of human geography at the University of Exeter. In places like Mustang, that's making life harder, even if people don't always say climate change is why they moved. 'On the everyday basis, the changing weather patterns … it's actually affecting the ability of people to live in particular places,' Adger said. Communities forced to move Around the globe, extreme weather due to climate change is forcing communities to move, whether it's powerful tropical storms in The Philippines and Honduras, drought in Somalia or forest fires in California. In the world's highest mountains, Samjung isn't the only community to have to start over, said Amina Maharjan, a migration specialist at ICMOD. Some villages move only short distances, but inevitably the key driver is lack of water. 'The water scarcity is getting chronic,' she said. Retreating glaciers — rivers of ice shrinking back as the world warms — are the most tangible and direct evidence of climate change. Up to 80% of the glacier volume in the Hindu Kush and Himalayas could vanish in this century if greenhouse gas emissions aren't drastically cut, a 2023 report warned. It hasn't snowed in Upper Mustang for nearly three years, a dire blow for those living and farming in high-altitude villages. Snowfall traditionally sets the seasonal calendar, determining when crops of barley, buckwheat, and potatoes are planted and affecting the health of grazing livestock. 'It is critically important,' Maharjan said. For Samjung, the drought and mounting losses began around the turn of the century. Traditional mud homes built for a dry, cold mountain climate fell apart as monsoon rains grew more intense — a shift scientists link to climate change. The region's steep slopes and narrow valleys funnel water into flash floods that destroyed homes and farmland, triggering a wave of migration that began a decade ago. Finding a place for a new village Moving a village — even one with fewer than 100 residents like Samjung — was no simple endeavor. They needed reliable access to water and nearby communities for support during disasters. Relocating closer to winding mountain roads would allow villagers to market their crops and benefit from growing tourism. Eventually, the king of Mustang, who still owns large tracts of land in the area nearly two decades after Nepal abolished its monarchy, provided suitable land for a new village. Pemba Gurung, 18, and her sister Toshi Lama Gurung, 22, don't remember much about the move from their old village. But they remember how hard it was to start over. Families spent years gathering materials to build new mud homes with bright tin roofs on the banks of the glacial Kali Gandaki river, nearly 15 kilometers (9 miles) away. They constructed shelters for livestock and canals to bring water to their homes. Only then could they move. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Some villagers still herd sheep and yak, but life is a bit different in New Samjung, which is close to Lo Manthang, a medieval walled city cut off from the world until 1992, when foreigners were first allowed to visit. It's a hub for pilgrims and tourists who want to trek in the high mountains and explore its ancient Buddhist culture, so some villagers work in tourism. The sisters Pemba and Toshi are grateful not to have to spend hours fetching water every day. But they miss their old home. 'It is the place of our origin. We wish to go back. But I don't think it will ever be possible,' said Toshi. ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Toronto Star
6 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Tropical Storm Flossie strengthens, set to become a hurricane off Mexico's Pacific coast
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tropical Storm Flossie continued to gain steam off Mexico's southwestern Pacific coast on Monday afternoon and was projected to turn into a hurricane overnight. Meanwhile, the remnants of what was Tropical Storm Barry dumped rain on eastern Mexico. Flossie strengthened with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph). It was centered about 170 miles (270 kilometers) southwest of Zihuatanejo and was moving northwest at 12 mph.
