India – Rains Trigger Deadly Floods and Landslides in Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand

by in Asia, News

Days of heavy monsoon rainfall has triggered flooding and several landslides in northern India, affecting the states of Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

NDRF teams search for missing after floods in Himachal Pradesh, India, July 2021. Photo; NDRF

Rescuers have recovered 6 bodies after landslides in Kangra District in Himachal Pradesh on 12 July 2021. More people are thought to be missing and search and rescue operations are ongoing. Teams from India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed to affected areas. Eighty people were rescued from a landslide in Triund, Kangra District.

Meanwhile flooding from the Manjhi River has caused severe damage in the popular tourist destination of Dharamshala City. India’s National Emergency Response Centre (NERC) reported 28 homes destroyed and 12 damaged across the state.

Meanwhile in the neighbouring state of Uttarakhand, landslides blocked roads around Chamoli, while 3 members of a family were killed when their house collapsed during a landslide in Bageshwar on 11 July.

In Bihar state, NDRF teams rescued 15 people from raging flood waters of the Gandak River in Motihari in East Champaran district late on 13 July 2021. Flooding has affected the state since late June after heavy rainfall in river catchments in neighbouring Nepal.

As of 12 July, NERC reported over 1 million people affected by flooding in 10 districts in Bihar. As many as 7,400 people were evacuated.

India’s Central Water Commission said rivers including the Bagmati, Kosi, Gandak and Burhi Gandak were above the danger mark in 14 locations as of 14 July 2021.

Severe weather, in particular thunderstorms, affected other parts of the country over the last few days. As many as 70 people were killed by lightning strikes in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh on 11 July, NERC said.

Floods in Himachal Pradesh, India, July 2021. Photo: NDRF

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