Himachal floods: Death toll climbs to 419, includes 237 rain-related casualties

The Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority SDMA has released a cumulative report detailing the extensive damage and casualties from the 2025 monsoon season which began on June 20 The report updated as of September 17 2025 confirms a total of 419 deaths across the stateThe total death toll is separated into two categories rain related deaths and road accident deathsUnder RainRelated Deaths 237 people have died in various rainrelated incidents The highest number of these fatalities were from landslides 52 deaths followed by fall from treessteep rocks 45 deaths drowning 40 deaths cloudbursts 17 deaths and flash floods 11 deathsMeanwhile an additional 182 deaths have been attributed to road accidents during the monsoon seasonThe monsoon has caused widespread destruction to both private and public property The cumulative loss to public property is estimated at Rs 45953654 Lakhs The report details significant losses to key infrastructure including losses to PWD Public Works Department reported at Rs 1413878 LakhsLoss to Jal Shakti Vibhag JSV is at Rs 1394669 Lakhs Loss to the Power Department is Rs 204505 Lakhs Damage to houses is also severe with 583 pucca houses and 1676 kutcha houses partially damaged while 934 pucca houses and 2150 kutcha houses were fully destroyedThe report also provides a districtwise breakdown of the incidents with a total of 145 landslides 98 flash floods and 46 cloudbursts recorded The highest number of landslides were in the Lahaul amp Spiti LampS district with 29 incidents followed by Shimla with 27 and Kullu with 23 LampS also reported the most flash floods with 57 incidents The highest number of cloudbursts were reported in Mandi with 19 followed by Kullu with 12 and Chamba with 6Meanwhile tThe Himachal Pradesh police along with the State Disaster Response Force SDRF continued Operation Hausal to recue people stuck in various areas after flash floods struck the Dharampur area leaving a trail of destructionOn the night of 1516 September the sudden heavy flood in the Sonkhad Dharmpur area affected the bus stand market and surrounding houses The Mandi Police in coordination with SDRF immediately initiated relief and rescue operations the Himachal police posted on XHowever 2 people are still missing and efforts are ongoing to locate them the Himachal Police informed on ThursdayOur efforts continue so that no hope remains unfulfilled Unfortunately two people are still missing Coordinated efforts are ongoing to find them The police are always committed to ensuring the safety and protection of every citizens life the police added in their postEarlier Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu chaired a highlevel meeting to assess the damage caused by the torrential rains over the last 48 hours across the state He expressed deep concern over the loss of lives and properties and directed all the concerned officers to take prompt action to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the affected people He said that during the last two days five persons have lost their lives three in Nihari and two near Pandoh Mohal Suma of Sadar SubDivision of Mandi district while two persons were missing according to an official statementThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever