Relentless rain across Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Punjab, and Haryana has killed at least 500 people this monsoon, with fresh landslides, flash floods, and collapsing houses claiming dozens more lives Tuesday night and Wednesday. Highways are blocked, rivers above danger mark, crops flattened, and thousands stranded as rain continued to pound the region.
In Himachal, the toll climbed to 341 after a landslide in Mandi's Sundernagar killed seven late Tuesday, including four of a family. Three bodies were recovered before midnight and four more on Wednesday. In Shimla, two women died and 15 bus passengers were injured after a boulder tore through a vehicle on NH-5 near Bithal. In Kullu, Ahmad Mir of Kupwara and local resident Narender Thakur were buried in a landslide.
Punjab, facing its worst floods in nearly four decades, declared the entire state disaster-affected. Seven more deaths pushed the toll to 37. More than 255 villages were submerged in 24 hours, 67,000 acres of farmland destroyed, and 3.75 lakh acres remain underwater. Bhakra dam is nearing its 1,680ft danger mark. Chief secretary KAP Sinha said over 1,200 villages have been hit, with lakhs affected. Villagers and Army teams are racing to shore up embankments.
In Haryana, five more deaths raised the toll to eight. In Bhiwani, three girls - Anshika, 15, Disha, 9, and Bharti, 7 - died after their roof collapsed. Two migrant workers were killed in Kurukshetra, and three men electrocuted in Hisar. Schools are shut in 16 of 22 districts.
J&K reported 132 deaths and 33 missing since Aug 14 in cloudbursts, landslides, and flash floods. On Tuesday night, a woman and her child died when their house wall collapsed in Rajouri. CM Omar Abdullah convened an emergency meeting as Jhelum crossed danger mark, reviving fears of 2014's floods.
Swollen rivers along the Jammu and Punjab frontiers have submerged 87 BSF border outposts and damaged fencing along 110 km. BSF officials stressed there was no let-up in vigil, with surveillance stepped up using drones, searchlights and night vision devices to detect infiltration attempts from Pakistan.
Major rivers - Chenab, Tawi, Ravi, Basantar, and Ujh - are flowing above flood level. Over 2,000 vehicles are stranded on Jammu-Srinagar highway, shut due to landslides. Vaishno Devi pilgrimage is suspended. Railways cancelled 68 trains from Jammu and Katra until Sept 30.
In Himachal Pradesh, snowfall hit high passes in Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur, and Kullu, stranding trucks at Baralacha (4,890m). At least 1,155 roads remain closed, including Chandigarh-Manali and the Atal Tunnel highway.
Meanwhile, Congress neta Rahul Gandhi urged PM Narendra Modi to announce a special package for flood-hit Punjab, J&K, Himachal and Uttarakhand, particularly for farmers. In a video message, he said, "The floods in Punjab have caused devastating destruction... your attention and active help of central govt are extremely necessary.".
(Inputs from Rohit Mullick in Kullu, Neel Kamal in Bathinda, Manvir Saini in Chandigarh, Sat Singh in Rohtak, Sanjay Khajuria in Jammu and Naseer Ganai in Srinagar)
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