Five people were killed and over 45 are missing following several incidents of cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh, where rain washed away many houses, bridges and roads, the officials said on Thursday.
The meteorological centre in Shimla issued a 'red' alert on Sunday for very heavy downpour in 10 districts of Himachal Pradesh, while services on the Shimla-Kalka rail line were suspended for hours till the debris and trees fallen on the tracks following overnight rains were removed.
Heated arguments were also witnessed when BJP leaders and others accompanying Kangana tried to pacify the residents, and police had to intervene to restore peace.
The wreckage of the Pepsu Roadways Transport Corporation bus was found 300 metres down from the green tax barrier of the Allo (potato) ground in the middle of the Beas river in Manali on Saturday and a search is on for the 11 passengers.
IMD weather forecast predicted a moderate to intense spell of rain in these areas for the next three to four hours.
Negi's remarks came after Kangana shared images of her visit to a flood-devastated region of her home state.
The death toll from cloudburst and flash flood-related incidents in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh has risen to 14, with a search underway for 31 missing individuals. Extensive damage to homes, infrastructure, and livestock has been reported across the district.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted above-normal rainfall for most parts of India during the post-monsoon season (October to December), except for some areas in the northwest. The southwest monsoon season ended with the country recording eight per cent above normal rainfall.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said on Saturday the loss to the public and private property due to flash floods in the state could be much higher than the state government's preliminary estimate of around Rs 2,575 crore. He said the detailed estimate of flash floods loss would be assessed after normal life is restored in the entire area.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from northwest India around September 15. This year's monsoon covered the country earlier than usual, resulting in surplus rainfall and extreme weather events.
A series of flash floods in Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh killed at least 16 people on Wednesday and damaged several residential houses, standing crops and a mini power plant, officials said.
'...they always address problems superficially, never tackling root causes.' 'Currently, the policy response will focus on immediate relief -- getting people to safety, providing facilities, clearing debris.' 'This is necessary, but once immediate relief operations end, everything returns to 'normal' without addressing underlying vulnerabilities.'
Cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides have caused massive destruction in the area. More than 150 houses, 106 cattle sheds, 31 vehicles, 14 bridges, and several roads have suffered damage in the disaster.
Destinations like Coorg, Munnar, the Western Ghats, and parts of the North East, are at their scenic best in the monsoon.
Strong demand for cultural and spiritual hubs is expected for destinations like Varanasi, Kolkata during Durga Puja, and Pushkar for the camel fair, besides leisure destinations like Goa, Udaipur, Jaipur and Coorg.
The threat of flash floods in Himachal has reduced substantially because of receding water levels of river Sutlej.
About 4,000 families from 60 vulnerable locations between Sumdoh in Kinnaur district and Kol Dam in Bilaspur on the banks of the Sutlej river have been evacuated to safer places.
Many low-lying areas in West Bengal's sub-Himalayan region were reeling from a flood-like situation while major rivers in Bihar were flowing above the danger level at several places as unabated heavy rain lashed the country's eastern parts on Sunday.
Five bodies were recovered while 52 others were missing in flash floods caused by cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh's Ganavi village that swept away 16 houses, a senior district official said on Wednesday.
Tourism is badly affected. Entire apple orchards have been washed away. 2 million people are threatened with loss of livelihood.
The victims, from Jharkhand and Nepal, were engaged in the Rohtang tunnel construction project.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said efforts are on to rescue the 300 stranded people, and they could be airlifted as the weather clears. Power and water supply has been snapped in several areas.
'What we are witnessing is not a freak incidence or a freak occurrence, but a new climate reality where warming oceans, monsoon variability and local geography are combining to produce extreme events.'
According to the state government, 60,000 tourists have so far been evacuated from the hill state.
Five people were killed and about 50 missing following several incidents of cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh where rains washed away many houses, bridges and roads, officials said on Thursday.
The state has suffered losses of Rs 4,000 crore and the figure is likely to go up as estimates continue to pour in, he said.
As many as 2,000 tourists stranded in Kasol area of Kullu district owing to incessant rainfall have been evacuated safely, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Wednesday.
The Northern Railways said it has cancelled around 17 trains and diverted around 12 others, while traffic has been suspended at four locations due to waterlogging.
The labourers, who are said to be of Nepali origin, were engaged in the construction of a hotel.
Around 300 people, mostly tourists, are stuck in camps at Chandertal, located at an altitude of 14,100 feet, following rain and snowfall in the region.
At least 33 people have been killed in flash floods in Bihar till Tuesday evening and 25.71 lakh people are affected in 16 districts of the state.
Five people, including a minor girl, died and as many injured in separate incidents during heavy rains in Kullu, Kangra and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh.
Glaciers in the Karakoram region are in a stable condition, but those feeding the Ganga and the Brahmaputra river basins are melting at a faster rate, the earth sciences ministry has said.
Rescue teams on Sunday recovered 13 more bodies, including the first ones to be pulled out from the sludge-choked Tapovan tunnel where a massive operation to reach about 30 people trapped inside began after a flash flood in Chamoli district a week ago.
About 1000 tourists and locals were stranded at various places, including 800 in Sangla alone and heavy rains were hampering the rescue operations, officials said on Monday.
In Uttar Pradesh, the death toll due to lightning strikes rose to 42.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting that the situation in Uttarakhand is better than what it was on Tuesday and Food Minister K V Thomas is taking steps to rush more food grains to the flood-hit Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
At least 28 people died in rain-related incidents Sunday as heavy downpours lashed north and northwest India, causing landslides, traffic chaos and house collapses, as well as a dam breach which inundated several villages in Haryana.
Incessant rains unleashed more death and destruction on Monday in parts of north India, with 37 people killed in landslides and other rain-related incidents in the last two days even as the Army and NDRF teams stepped in to intensify the relief and rescue operations.
Rains continued to lash most parts of north India on Tuesday, affecting normal life in the region.
