Fresh Rains Leave Trail of Destruction in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand

Several Killed, Hundreds Stranded by Cloudbursts, Intense Showers

PTI, Dehradun/Shimla, Sept 16, 2025 : Fresh heavy showers overnight ravaged the Himalayan states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, already bruised by a string of deadly natural calamities over the past couple of months. Three members of a family were killed as rains triggered massive landslides and flash floods in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday, while five people were washed away and hundreds were stranded by cloudbursts and intense showers in Dehradun district of neighbouring Uttarakhand.

Torrential waters running through the hilly slopes swept away cars, damaged houses, and commercial establishments, while in Uttarakhand, a bridge was also washed away. The downpours swelled most of the snowfed rivers and streams in these states. In Uttarakhand, the Ganga and the Yamuna were flowing close to the warning level, while the water level of the Tamsa river reached tantalisingly close to the danger mark.

The Tamsa swelled rapidly in the morning, inundating the famous Tapkeshwar temple on its banks and submerging the gigantic Hanuman statue near its entrance up to the shoulders. The temple's priest, Bipin Joshi, said he has not seen the river waters rise so high in the past 25 to 30 years. Luckily, there were few devotees within the temple premises in the early morning hours when the inundation occurred. He added that the priests staying at the temple are safe.

The Song river, flowing at spate, flooded nearby areas in Uttarakhand, putting a bridge on the river in Maldevta in danger. The local administration responded quickly and was coordinating with each other to restore normalcy. Sahastradhara, Maldevta, Santla Devi, and Dalanwala in Uttarakhand were the worst-hit by the disaster, according to the district disaster management office in Dehradun.

Sahastradhara received 192 mm of rain, followed by Maldevta (141.5 mm), Hathi Barkala and Jolly Grant (92.5 mm each), and Kalsi (83.5 mm) in just a few hours. The state's disaster management secretary, Vinod Kumar Suman, said teams have been engaged in relief and rescue operations in the affected areas, while 300 to 400 people have already been moved to safety.

About 200 children trapped by waterlogging at the Devbhoomi Institute campus in Paundha area of Dehradun were rescued by an SDRF team, said Banshidhar Tiwari, Director General, Information. Residents of Majhara village were on the road, having survived what they called a landslide that hit their dwellings early in the morning. They claimed that some people have gone missing.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the rain-affected areas of Dehradun district to review the situation on the ground. Local MLAs and senior officials accompanied him. Interacting with reporters in the rain-hit Maldevta area, he said: "All rivers are in spate following heavy rains. Roads have been breached at 25 to 30 places. Approach roads are cut off. Houses and government properties have been damaged. Normal life is severely affected. Rescue teams are working on a war footing to restore normalcy."

"The state government stands with every affected family. The administration is already on alert mode, and the NDRF, SDRF, police, and local administration are active," he said. The Chief Minister's Office, in a social media post in Hindi, said Dhami has briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah about the situation in Uttarakhand following the heavy showers. They assured the state of all possible help and asserted that the Union government stands firmly with the people of Uttarakhand in this hour of crisis, according to the CMO.

Dhami inspected the Maldevta and Kesarwala areas of Dehradun district, hit hard by heavy rains, and took stock of the situation.