An aerial view shows the Dhauliganga river flowing in Chamoli district, northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, February 12, 2021. Photo by Reuters/Anushree Fadnavis
Torrential rains in the Indian Himalayas triggered landslides over the weekend that killed at least 18 people, including dozens of those trapped or missing, officials said on Monday.
Unusually heavy rains and melting glaciers have caused deadly flash floods in the mountains of India and neighboring Pakistan and Nepal over the past two years, with government officials increasingly blaming climate change.
Television footage from the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh showed houses flattened by landslides, buses and cars hanging over the edge of precipices after roads gave way, and hundreds of people at the sites of rescue as rescuers struggled to clear the debris.
“Once again, tragedy has befallen Himachal Pradesh, with continuous rainfall over the past 48 hours,” the state’s chief minister, Sukhvinder Singh, said in a message on the platform. X messaging, formerly known as Twitter.
“Reports of downpours and landslides have emerged from various parts of the state resulting in the loss of lives and valuable property.”
Reports of new casualties continued to come in on Monday as the Chief Minister inspected some of the damage.
In one of the deadliest incidents, a temple collapsed in the state capital, Shimla, with rescuers pulling out at least nine bodies, the chief minister said.
Schools and other educational institutions had been ordered to close and those at risk were being moved to safety in shelters, state officials said.
Parts of the state received up to 273 mm (10.75 inches) of rain in 24 hours, India’s Meteorological Department said.
“This is the first time we have seen multiple downpours and widespread damage in the state,” said state disaster management officer Praveen Bhardwaj.
In Solan district, houses collapsed after a downpour, killing at least seven people, and a mother and her child were killed in Mandi district when their house collapsed, Bhardwaj said.
