Rescuers in Himachal Pradesh, a mountainous state, have worked in difficult conditions to save people trapped under mud and debris washed away by rain over the weekend. The Indian meteorological department put the state on alert and expected the downpours to continue for the next few days.
Vikram Singh, operator of the state’s emergency operations center, reported 72 deaths in the previous five days on Thursday and said rescue efforts were ongoing.
Hundreds of roads remained blocked and schools in the state capital, Shimla, had been ordered to close while the Air Force and emergency management teams helped people in low-lying and vulnerable areas. Some 2,000 people were rescued by helicopters and motorboats and were safe in camps for displaced persons, state chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said.
Images on social media showed trees collapsing as several houses built on hills collapsed one after another. People could be heard crying while exclaiming “get out of there” and “go back”.
In Shimla, a Hindu temple collapsed Monday in a landslide that killed several people, and authorities feared people were still buried under the rubble. The temple was full of worshipers, raising fears that the death toll could rise as the rescue efforts progressed.
Torrential rains focused on specific points washed away houses on Sunday night, flooded roads and left people without communication.
Those focused torrential downpours drop more than 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) of water across a 10-square-kilometre (3.8-square-mile) space in an hour. They are a common phenomenon in the Himalayan regions, where they can cause severe flooding and landslides affecting thousands of people.
Shuku, the chief minister, told the Press Trust of India news agency that it will take a year to rebuild the infrastructure destroyed by this monsoon rains, estimating the losses at about $100 billion. “It’s a big challenge, a challenge like a mountain,” he said.
Record monsoon rains last month killed more than 100 people in two weeks in parts of northern India, including Himachal Pradesh, which was hardest hit.
Disasters caused by avalanches and floods are common in the area during the monsoon season between June and September. Scientists say they are becoming more frequent as global warming contributes to the melting of glaciers in the region.
However, local experts said the current disaster was likely due to unregulated urbanism in a vulnerable region. “It is bad planning and governance that has caused a lot of this damage,” said Anand Sharma, a retired meteorologist with the India Meteorological Department.
Sharma hails from the Himalayan region and has closely studied weather patterns in the region for some three decades. Heavy and sometimes extreme rainfall in the foothills of the Himalayas is to be expected during the monsoon season, he noted.
“All the demolished buildings are those that were built recently, buildings built 100 years ago have had little or no damage,” he said. The growing tourism in the region is another factor.
“They build where they want to and when there are downpours, these disasters inevitably happen,” Sharma said.
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Arasu reported from Bangalore, India.
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FOUNTAIN: Associated Press