Monsoon Deluge Batters India, Leaving Five Dead and Roads Blocked

Guwahati: Torrential monsoon rains hammered India on July 10. Five more people died in rain-related accidents as the storms wreaked havoc. Mountains collapsed and rivers overflowed. Thousands of people fled their homes for safety.

Himachal Pradesh took a hard hit. Boulders killed a 70-year-old man in Kullu. Two more people suffered injuries when rocks smashed their vehicle in Solan. Authorities closed 27 roads in Shimla alone. Traffic on the Kalka-Shimla National Highway stalled under a barrage of falling rock.

In Uttarakhand, a teenager died as landslides choked 118 roads. A 100-metre section of the Yamunotri National Highway crumbled. Officials kept a close eye on the rising Ganga and Yamuna rivers. Jammu and Kashmir police pulled 25 trapped residents from flooded homes in Poonch after flash floods struck Mendhar.

The Northeast faces a brutal struggle. Over 80 families in Mizoram evacuated as the Khawthlangtuipui River breached its banks. Massive landslides cut off Lawngtlai and Siaha districts. "National Highway-54 remained blocked following a massive landslide near Bualte village," officials reported, leaving tourists stranded for four days. Tripura saw nearly 11,000 people cram into relief camps after floods damaged 4,000 houses.

Death tolls climbed in Arunachal Pradesh, now at seven. Uttar Pradesh reported three fatalities, including a man lost in a Noida drain and a woman crushed by a collapsing house in Muzaffarnagar. While Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan expect a dry spell, the India Meteorological Department warned residents in the Northeast to stay alert. Floods will likely continue through July 16.