Himachal Monsoon Fury Leaves 69 Dead, 37 Missing, Rs 700 Crore Lost

Himachal Pradesh was hit by relentless monsoon rains from June 20, and there were successive cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides in the hill state. At least 69 people died, 37 remain missing and 110 were injured as rescue teams rush to reach cut-off villages.

State government estimates property loss at about ₹700 crore, a figure likely to rise as the worst-hit areas are still being assessed. Fourteen individual cloudbursts have struck so far, sweeping roads, bridges and drinking-water schemes away, leaving tens of thousands of people without electricity.

Mandi district has borne the brunt, with entire hamlets being inundated under brown torrents. The State Emergency Operation Centre informed that 261 roads, 186 of them in Mandi, are closed to traffic, and over 150 houses, 14 bridges and hundreds of livestock units have been destroyed. Meanwhile, 599 electricity transformers and 797 water-supply schemes are in shambles, threatening a looming humanitarian crisis.

Meteorologists have issued an orange alert of extremely heavy to heavy rains in all districts until July 7, issuing warnings of further cloudbursts and landslides. Two contingents of the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force, home guards, and local police are conducting round-the-clock search-and-rescue operations in the most inaccessible areas.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has announced an ex gratia relief of ₹5,000 to each impacted family and has promised the complete support of the government for restoring infrastructure. Union authorities have promised additional NDRF forces and relief supplies to help the state's recovery effort.