The combined might of the monsoon and a western disturbance continued to barrel down on northern India, leaving more than 40 people dead till Monday and causing extensive landslides and flooding in the mountains and the plains, with the swollen and swift-flowing Beas, Sutlej and other rivers and streams taking down houses and parked cars, and submerging cities, villages and swathes of crop land.
In worst-hit Himachal Pradesh, CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu put the death count at 17 since Friday and said the estimated loss to public and private property has already reached around £400 million. Relentless torrential rainfall has caused widespread damage to infrastructure, including roads, power transformers, electric sub-stations, and numerous water supply schemes. Officials said 4,686 transformers were damaged, leaving hundreds of villages in darkness.
A portion of the Manali Leh national highway collapsed, severing road connectivity to Lahaul-Spiti district and Ladakh. Efforts are underway to evacuate about 300 tourists and residents stranded in Lahaul-Spiti and Kullu districts using helicopters as soon as weather conditions permit. DGP Satwant Atwal said approximately 70 tourists en route to Manimahesh lake in Bharmaur region of Chamba district are stranded.
The Shrikhand Mahadev Yatra has been abruptly halted for the remainder of the season due to six reported deaths during the pilgrimage. In Uttar Pradesh, the state relief commissioner’s office reported a total of 17 fatalities across different parts of the state in the past 24 hours due to lightning strikes. Mainpuri witnessed four deaths, while the remaining 13 occurred in nine other districts.
Tragedy struck Rae Bareli district Monday when at least eight children were injured after being struck by lightning while tending to their cattle herds in the fields. Heavy rainfall in the Agra region has caused severe water logging in urban areas, leading to water seeping into houses and shops. The road infrastructure has also suffered significant damage, and over 100 villages experienced power outages. Furthermore, the rainfall has resulted in the destruction of maize and groundnut crops across the region.
Punjab reported at least four deaths as the state grappled with devastating flooding, prompting authorities to mobilise rescue, relief and evacuation in several areas, including Mohali, Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Jalandhar (rural areas), and Patiala. Fourteen teams from NDRF, two units of the SDRF, and 12 columns of Army and Punjab police personnel have been deployed to meet the crisis, DGP Gaurav Yadav said.
Rain in Haryana has caused significant damage to rail routes, national highways, bridges, and power stations across the state. The death toll has risen to five, with a couple losing their lives due to a house collapse in Karnal, and three children perishing in a landslide in Pinjore.
Five kids drown in Gujarat
Large swathes of land in north and central Gujarat resembled sprawling water bodies and several villages were marooned as torrentinal rains triggered a flood-like situation on Monday. Five children -three in Banaskantha and two in Mahisagar -drowned in overflowing lakes. In Banaskantha’s Fatehpura village, three children drowned when one of them fell into an overflowing lake while answering nature's call and two others plunged inside to save him. Two boys drowned in a pond in the Makhaliya village of Lunawada taluka of Mahisagar district when they went into bathe and misjudged the water level.