India: Rains wreak havoc again, cloudburst kills 50 in Himachal Pradesh

The death toll due to cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh climbed to 50on Monday (Aug 14) as rain-induced floods and landslidescontinued to wreak havoc in the Himalayan state.

In Solan district on Sunday, seven people, including four children, were killed in a cloudburst in a village.Another ninedied afterheavy rainfall triggered a landslidein Shimla city that swept away a temple in Shimla’s Summer Hill.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that nine people were killed after being buried under the debris of a Shiv temple in Shimla, while at least seven died after a cloudburst incident in the Solan district. The officials said that several people have been rescued and one is reported missing at Jadon village of Kandaghat subdivision in Solan. A report by a news agency mentioned that two houses and one cowshed were washed away. The toll is expected to rise further.

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In Balera, two children died as their makeshift house collapsed in a landslide. In Bandal village, a woman died and in Hamirpur, three people have died while two are missing due to incessant rains in the district.

"Devastated to hear about the loss of 7 precious lives in the tragic cloudburst incident at village Jadon, Dhawla Sub Tehsil in Solan district heartfelt condolences go out to the grieving families," CM Sukhu wrote on X, previously known as Twitter.

"We share in your pain and sorrow during this difficult time. We have directed the authorities to ensure all possible assistance and support to the affected families during this trying period," he added.

Superintendent of Police, Solan, Gaurav Singh said that those who lost their lives in Solan are: identified as Harnam (38), Kamal Kishore (35), Hemlata (34), Rahul (14), Neha (12), Golu (8), and Raksha (12),

Situation might worsen

The regional weather department in the state issued heavy rainfall alerts for several districts, including Shimla, Kullu, and Mandi among others for Monday.

In an alert on Monday, the regional weather department said: "Moderate to heavy rainfall at most places, with very heavy rainfall at a few places, is very likely to continue over the state. Possibility of extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in the districts of Chamba, Kangra, Mandi, Shimla, Kullu, Lahaul and Spiti, and Sirmaur."

It added that there would be "very Heavy rainfall at many places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in Beas, Ranjit Sagar, pong dam and Sutlej catchment area."

The state disaster management authorities have urged the public to share information about any incident and for people to come together and extend help to those affected by the weather events.

"The current rainfall havoc has caused significant damage to infrastructure and affected the lives of many people. The local authorities are actively responding to these incidents, but immediate information is required to assist the affected. We urge our media friends to share information about the incident," they said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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