The monsoon has caused widespread damage in Himachal Pradesh, taking 109 lives in less than a month — a grim reminder of nature’s unchecked fury.
From June 20 to July 16, the State Disaster Management Authority confirmed that 64 people died in rain-related disasters such as landslides, flash floods, cloudbursts, and even snake bites and electrocution. Another 45 died in tragic road accidents, many caused by crumbling hillsides and washed-out roads.
The latest update from the State Emergency Operation Centre stated that 226 roads, including National Highway-707 near Uttari, are still blocked due to landslides and heavy rain. In districts like Mandi, Kullu, Kangra, and Sirmaur, 52 Distribution Transformer Regions (DTRs) and 137 water supply schemes have been disrupted.
Districts like Mandi and Kangra have seen the worst, each losing 16 people. Hamirpur reported 8 deaths, Kullu 4, and Chamba 3. As many as 45 people lost their lives in road accidents, with Kullu and Solan each losing 7 lives, and others from Shimla, Kinnaur, and Mandi among the deceased.
Besides loss of lives, the SDMA said public services and private property have been badly damaged, with losses over ₹883 crore. Around 1,228 cattle and 21,500 poultry birds also died this season. The state government is closely monitoring the situation and working with district officials for quick relief and repair efforts.
Though relief efforts are underway, the scale of devastation is huge. The government is expediting the process to provide ex-gratia aid and has activated round-the-clock monitoring. Residents have been urged to remain vigilant as fresh weather alerts continue to warn of more heavy rains in the state.
Earlier, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said a Central team will soon visit the state to assess the cloudburst and flood damage. On
Tuesday, he met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi and informed him that the state has already suffered losses of about ₹1,000 crore, even though the monsoon has just started.
He told the Home Minister that many lives have been lost, and important infrastructure like roads, bridges, buildings, irrigation systems, water supply, and electricity lines have been badly damaged.
The Chief Minister asked the Central Government for help with relief and repair work. “He further said that natural disasters had become a recurring phenomenon since 2023 and the State had incurred cumulative losses of approximately ₹21,000 crore over the last three years,” as per the report.
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