Rains unleash havoc in hills: Cloudbursts, flash floods, landslides strike Himalayas; Vaishno Devi Yatra on hold

Hilly regions in India have been experiencing intense monsoon showers for the past few days, causing rivers to swell, triggering landslides, and disrupting normal life in low-lying and hilly areas. Loss of lives and missing people have been reported due to flash floods caused by cloudbursts.

At least 30 people were killed and many injured as heavy rains led to a landslide near the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir's (J-K) Katra on Tuesday, officials said. The landslide that occurred near Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at Adhkwari cave temple, located on the route to the Vaishno Devi shrine in J&K's Katra, left people trapped under rubble.

This is the third rain calamity to hit Jammu and Kashmir during the last ten days. On August 14, a massive cloudburst hit the Chashoti village in the Padder subdivision of Kishtwar district. 65 bodies were recovered, and over 100 people were rescued in the cloudburst disaster. In another incident on August 17, at least four people were killed and many others were injured after a cloudburst hit Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district.

The incident occurred almost two hours after the board suspended the yatra at 1.30 pm amid heavy rains across the Jammu region. "In view of recent incessant rain and inclement weather, all the yatris are hereby advised to replan their yatra to the shrine once the weather improves," the board said in a post on X.

The rains continued non-stop in most parts of the Jammu region over the past 24 hours with almost all water bodies, including Tawi, Chenab, Ujh, Ravi and Basanter, flowing several feet above the danger level, they added. Heavy rains were also experienced in Kashmir valley overnight, where the main Jhelum river has crossed the flood-alert mark of 21 feet at Sangam in the Anantnag district

In Nagaland, a landslide triggered by continuous spells of heavy rain has left numerous passenger and commercial vehicles stranded on both sides of the affected stretch of NH-2 on Monday. The India Meteorological Department has issued weather warnings for Arunachal Pradesh, forecasting widespread rainfall and thunderstorms until August 28.

Flash floods and landslides created havoc in various parts of Himachal Pradesh last week as heavy rainfall lashed the state. Flash floods in Takoli, Panarsa, and Nagwain, which are located within a distance of around 2 km in the Mandi district bordering Kullu, swept away a stretch of the Chandigarh-Manali national highway besides damaging houses and agricultural land.

On 17th August, flash floods that struck around 4 am in Uttarakhand's Harsil and Dharali districts brought along huge debris, including boulders and trees that were scattered on the highway, blocking it for traffic. In the nearby Panarsa and Nagwain, the floodwater damaged houses, vehicles, agricultural land and claimed many lives.

Mobile internet, broadband services, and calling facilities remained disrupted across Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday as heavy rainfall continued to batter the Union Territory, damaging optical fiber networks at several locations.

The civilian administration, military, and paramilitary have swung into action, and the situation is being continuously monitored. The district administrations of the states have issued a weather advisory and said "heavy to very heavy rainfall" is reported. It also requested the public to stay away from water bodies.

Rescue efforts were intensified with the deployment of nearly a dozen earth-movers by the civil administration and the use of specialised equipment and dog squads by the NDRF. In addition to SDRF, NDRF, home guards, local volunteers and J&K Police, the Army has deployed personnel to augment the rescue exercise.