Cloudbursts, flash floods kill 43 in Himachal Pradesh; 37 missing amid monsoon onset

Rescue operations are currently underway, and relief camps have been set up to house the 402 people rescued so far, with 382 of them being from Mandi.

By: Express Web Desk

New Delhi | July 4, 2025 01:44 PM IST

3 min read

Traffic movement at landslide-prone Chakki Mod on Kalka-Shimla highway restored after 2 hours

Heavy rain triggered a sudden landslide from the hillside at Chakki Mod, completely halting vehicle movement around 7 am. (File Photo)

At least 43 people were reported dead and 37 others remain missing in Himachal Pradesh after cloudbursts and flash floods triggered by extremely heavy rainfall wreaked havoc in the state. Monsoon hit the state on June 20 and has since then cost it Rs 5,000 crore in damages.

Officials told PTI that out of the total 43 deceased, 14 were killed in cloudbursts, eight in flash floods, and one in a landslide, while seven were drowned. Mandi reported the highest number of deaths at 17 as ten instances of cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides triggered chaos in the city on Tuesday.

On Friday, the soldiers from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescued 65 people trapped in Bharad, Deji, Payala, and Rukchui villages after heavy rain, while the search is still on for 31 people, according to officials.

An area damaged after flash floods at Thunag, in Mandi district, Friday, July 4, 2025. (PTI Photo)

The downpour, followed by landslides, damaged roads and caused rivers to swell, which cut off many villages and deposited debris to people’s houses and fields.

Extremely heavy rains and waterlogging led to significant damage to structures in Himachal, with more than 150 houses, 106 cattle sheds, 31 vehicles, 14 bridges and several roads damaged. 164 cattle have perished in the various incidents across the state due to the early onset of monsoon.

Rescue operations are currently underway, and relief camps have been set up to house the 402 people rescued so far, with 382 of them being from Mandi.

Meanwhile, 280 roads, including 156 in Mandi, 49 in Sirmaur, and 36 in Kullu districts, were rendered out of bounds for vehicular traffic, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said.

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A view of debris following a landslide, at Manali-Leh National Highway in Kullu on Thursday. (ANI Photo)

Intermittent rain continued to lash parts of Himachal on Friday. Aghar has received 71.4 mm of rain since Thursday evening, followed by Ghaghas 38.6 mm, Sarahan 36.4 mm, Nagrota Suriyan 31.4 mm, Kandaghat 31 mm, Karsog 27.4 mm, Murari Devi 24.4 mm, Kangra 22.7 mm, and Palampur 21.2 mm.

This comes as monsoon arrived early in northern India, with moderate to heavy rains recorded in Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Haryana over the week.

(With inputs from PTI)

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