SHIMLA: Twenty-two people, including eight members of a family, were killed and six feared dead in incidents of landslide and flash flood triggered by heavy rainfall in Himachal Pradesh since Friday, officials said.
Ten people were injured, state Disaster Management Department Director Sudesh Kumar Mokhta said on Saturday.
The maximum damage has been reported from Mandi, Kangra and Chamba districts, he said, adding that so far 36 weather-related incidents have been reported from the state.
As many as 743 roads, including the Manali-Chandigarh national highway at Mandi and the Shimla-Chandigath highway at Shoghi have been blocked for traffic, he added.
In Mandi alone, 13 people died and six went missing in flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall, Deputy Commissioner Arindam Chaudhary said.
Those missing are feared dead, he said.
Bodies of eight members of a family were retrieved from the debris of their house after a four-hour-long search operation by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and police at Kashan village in Gohar development block, he added.
The house collapsed in a landslide.
The body of a girl was recovered at some distance away from her house after a flash flood in Baghi nullah on the Mandi-Katola-Prashar road, the DC said, adding that five members of her family are feared washed away.
Several families left their homes located between Baghi and Old Katola areas after a cloud burst and took shelter at safer places, he added.
Two people were killed and two others injured as boulders hit their car in shimla's Theog, Disaster Management Director Sudesh Kumar Mokhta said.
Three people were killed after their house collapsed following a landslide at Banet village in Chowari of Chamba around 4.30 am, Mokhta said.
In Kangra, a "kutcha" house collapsed, killing a nine-year-old child, officials said.
Meanwhile, trains on the Jogindernagar-Pathankot route have been suspended as Chakki Bridge in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district collapsed due to heavy rainfall on Saturday, officials said.
The Railway authorities had declared the bridge unsafe and the train service on the narrow gauge track from Pathankot (Punjab) to Jogindernagar (Himachal Pradesh) has been suspended, they added.
In Hamirpur, 30 people who were stranded following a flash flood evacuated safely, they said.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and BJP president JP Nadda expressed grief over the deaths and said the administration is carrying out rescue operations on a war footing in affected districts.
The HP Public Works Department (PWD) chief engineer said 743 roads, including the Manali-Chandigarh highway at Mandi and Shimla-Chandigath highway at Shoghi, closed due to unprecedented rainfall.
As many as 407 roads will be restored today and 268 will be cleared by tomorrow, he said.
Police said the Chandigarh-Shimla national highway blocked for traffic after a landslide at Sonu Bangla between Shoghi and Tara Devi.
Stones are still falling and traffic has been diverted via the Shoghi-Mehli bypass, they added.
Meanwhile, water and power supply have been hit in several parts of the state.
At a meeting here, state Chief Secretary R D Dhiman directed the departments concerned to clear roads so that the supply of basic needs is not disrupted.
He also ordered the videography of the damage caused by heavy rainfall and provide shelter to affected people.
The principal secretary, revenue, told the chief secretary that Rs 232.31 crore has been released to the districts from the State Disaster Response Fund and sufficient funds are available with all districts to carry out the relief and rehabilitation work.
A series of cloudbursts hit different parts of Uttarakhand early on Saturday killing four people while 10 went missing as rivers breached their banks and washed away bridges, officials said.
Torrential rains damaged two houses in Gwad village in Tehri district trapping seven people under the debris.
Two bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, Tehri District Magistrate Saurabh Gaharwar said.
In Kothar village, an elderly woman suffocated to death after getting trapped underneath rubble brought in by the rains, he said.
In Binak village of Pauri district, a house collapsed burying 70-year-old Darshani Devi alive.
Her body was recovered by villagers, the disaster control room said.
Excessive rains have affected around 13 villages in the Pauri district prompting the administration to close all Anganwadi centres and schools.
A house and a shop were damaged by heavy rains in Bhainswad village of Dehradun district injuring three people while five were missing, the state emergency operation centre here said.
Water also entered the caves of Tapkeshwar, a famous Shiva temple on the banks of the Tons river, which was in spate, officials said.
A cloudburst occurred around 2.15 am in Sarkhet village in the Raipur area, they said, adding a bridge over the Song river near Thano got washed away while the Kempty Falls, a popular tourist spot near Mussoorie, was also flowing dangerously.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the affected areas near Thano and instructed officials to make arrangements for restoring vehicular movement.
"The administration is fully alert. Disaster relief teams are already at work in the affected areas. The Army's help may also be taken if needed," he said.
Dhami was accompanied by Raipur MLA Umesh Sharma Kau and Garhwal commissioner Sushil Kumar.
Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi and Dehradun District Magistrate Sonika also visited the affected areas to assess the damage.
Mud entered homes in over a dozen villages following the cloudburst, prompting the State Disaster Response Force to shift the affected people to safe locations.
The affected villages include Maldevta, Bhutsi, Tauliyakatal, Thatyud, Lavarkha, Ringalgadh, Dhuttu, Ragad Gaon and Sarkhet, according to the officials.
The affected people have been shifted to schools and panchayat buildings, said Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Dhanolti, Lakshmi Raj Chauhan, adding the Raipur-Kumalda road has been blocked by debris at many places.
The Rishikesh-Badrinath highway is blocked at Totaghati, the Rishikesh-Gangotri highway is blocked at Nagni and the Narendranagar-Ranipokhri road is blocked at several points, Chauhan said.
Rains also pounded parts of eastern India, with Odisha -- already reeling under floods in the Mahanadi river system with around 4 lakh people marooned in 500 villages, reporting four deaths, and neighbouring Jharkhand one.
Odisha braced for more damage with parts in its north receiving rains since Friday night.
Prices of vegetables have shot up in the markets of Bhubaneswar with the supply chain disrupted.
Water levels in Subarnarekha, Budhabalang, Baitarani and Salandi are being monitored as Balasore, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj received heavy rain on the previous night, Odisha Water Resources Chief Engineer B K Mishra said on Saturday.
In the neighbouring Jharkhand, heavy rainfall associated with high-speed winds since Friday evening uprooted scores of trees and electricity poles and submerged low-lying areas in many districts.
A woman died when a mud wall of her house caved in on her in West Singhbhum district on Saturday morning as the deep depression that crossed the Odisha coast on the previous evening brought incessant rainfall in several areas, an official said.
Normal life was thrown out of gear with rain disrupting the power supply in many areas for long hours and causing traffic jams in major cities.
Two flights have also been cancelled till 2 pm due to bad weather on Saturday, officials at Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi told PTI.
The India Meteorological Department said isolated extremely heavy rainfall is expected over West Madhya Pradesh on Sunday and East Rajasthan on Monday.
Meanwhile, the yatra to the famous Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district resumed this morning on the old track after remaining temporarily suspended overnight following heavy rains.
However, the Himkoti (battery car) track which is also known as the new track, is still closed due to ongoing clearance operation, even as the helicopter service remained suspended due to bad weather, officials said.
The pilgrimage was temporarily suspended Friday evening following heavy rains in the Trikuta hills.
Thousands of pilgrims were present at the shrine when it started raining heavily around 6 pm and continued till midnight.
Several videos shared on social media show flood-like situations on the Vaishno Devi track.