Heavy rain triggers flashfloods, kills 31 people in hills & plains

In Himachal Pradesh, at least 22 people killed and eight missing after landslides and other rain-related incidents in Mandi, Kangra and Chamba

A collapsed railway bridge over the Chakki river in Dharamshala on Saturday after the flash flood.: PTI picture

PTI   |   Dehradun, Shimla   |   21.08.22 : At least 31 people were killed in the hilly regions of the north and the plains of the east as monsoon rain triggered flashfloods, landslides and house collapses across large swathes of the country.

Himachal Pradesh bore the maximum brunt with at least 22 people killed and eight missing after landslides and other rain-related incidents in Mandi, Kangra and Chamba.

As many as 743 roads, including the Manali-Chandigarh national highway at Mandi and the Shimla-Chandigarh highway at Shoghi, have been blocked for traffic.

The Chakki bridge in Kangra collapsed due to heavy rain on Saturday, disrupting train services between Pathankot and Jogindernagar.

In Uttarakhand, a series of cloudbursts on Saturday killed four persons, while 10 were reported missing as rivers breached banks, washed away bridges and hurled mud and water inside houses.

As the gushing waters threatened more damage, a number of roads were blocked for traffic, while all anganwadi centres and schools were ordered shut in Pauri district.

Water also entered the caves of Tapkeshwar, a Shiva temple on the banks of the Tons river that was in spate, officials said.

A cloudburst occurred around 2.15am at Sarkhet village in Raipur, they said, adding a bridge over the Song river near Thano got washed away while the Kempty Falls, a tourist spot near Mussoorie, was also flowing dangerously.

Rains also pounded parts of eastern India, with Odisha — already reeling from floods in the Mahanadi river system that have left 4 lakh people marooned in 500 villages — reporting four deaths and neighbouring Jharkhand one.

Odisha braced for more damage with parts in its north receiving rain since Friday night. Prices of vegetables have shot up in the markets of Bhubaneswar with the supply chain disrupted.

Water levels in the Subarnarekha, Budhabalang, Baitarani and Salandi are being monitored as Balasore, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj received heavy rain on Friday night, Odisha water resources chief engineer B.K. Mishra said on Saturday.

The India Meteorological Department said isolated extremely heavy rainfall was expected over west Madhya Pradesh on Sunday and east Rajasthan on Monday.

The yatra to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop the Trikuta hills in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district resumed on Saturday morning on the old track after remaining suspended overnight following heavy rain.

However, the Himkoti (battery car) track is still closed due to clearance operations, even as the helicopter service remained suspended due to bad weather, officials said.