Monsoon fury claims 37 lives in northern hills, eastern states | India News

NEW DELHI: At least 37 people died in the past 24 hours in rain-related disasters as torrential monsoonal downpour battered the Himalayan regions of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and J&K in the north as well as large swathes of Odisha and Jharkhand in the east, triggering flash floods and landslides on Saturday.
Thousands were stranded and normal life was thrown out of gear as gushing water and landslides swept away homes and roads in the hills and inundated many villages in the eastern states.

Himachal recorded a maximum of 21 fatalities, and the toll could rise as six people were reported missing and 12 injured. Uttarakhand and Jharkhand reported four casualties each, while six died in Odisha and two toddlers in Jammu. In Himachal, a couple of bridges, including the British-era Chakki bridge, located along the Pathankot-Jogindernagar rail line in Kangra district were washed away. Over half-a-dozen roads, including Chandigarh-Manali national highway, remained closed.
CM Jai Ram Thakur expressed concern over the colossal loss of life and damage to property. He directed district officials to expedite relief and rescue work on a war footing. Rain spells since Friday evening caused heavy damage in several parts of Uttarakhand. At least two people died and five others were injured after a house collapsed in Tehri district. In another incident, a woman died in a wall collapse in Yamkeshwar, Pauri district, while another woman was killed in Kirtinagar, Tehri district.
A report by Uttarakhand State Emergency Operation Centre said 235 roads across the state are closed due to landslides. CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said, “Our teams are on the spot and working round-the-clock. If required we will take the Army’s assistance. Additional forces have been stationed.”
In J&K, two toddlers were killed Saturday when their mud house collapsed due to heavy rain in the Udhampur district of Jammu, while many houses were damaged in the Talwara area of Reasi district. The Vaishno Devi pilgrimage in Reasi district resumed Saturday after being temporarily suspended the day before as heavy rain caused flash floods.
Heavy downpour brought by a deep depression that originated over northern Bay of Bengal on Friday swept across the southern and central parts of Jharkhand before marching into Chhattisgarh, north Odisha and East Madhya Pradesh by late Saturday. As per IMD forecast, the deep depression will move west-northwestwards across Jharkhand and north Chhattisgarh and north Madhya Pradesh in the next 24 hours and weaken gradually.
However, several districts in Odisha will continue to get heavy to moderate rain before it loses its intensity.