Heavy monsoon rain has caused a major problem in Himachal Pradesh. A big piece of the Chandigarh-Manali National Highway has fallen apart near the Pandoh Dam in the Mandi district. This part of the road is more than 50 meters long, and now it is just a huge hole. This has completely stopped all the traffic on the highway. This is a big deal because many people and businesses rely on this road every day.
The Superintendent of Police, Sakshi Verma, locally serving in Mandi said that the constant rain is probably what has made the landslide happen. When it rains so much, the ground gets weak and cannot hold up the road anymore. Now, there are long lines of cars and trucks stuck on both sides of the damaged road and everyone is waiting for it to be fixed.
This road collapse is just one of many sad stories from this year's monsoon season. The State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) under the Department of Revenue-DM Cell, Government of Himachal Pradesh confirmed that the 95 deaths were attributed to various disasters during the monsoon season. Since June 20, a total of 95 people have died in accidents caused by the rain. The reasons for these deaths are varied. For example, 17 people died in sudden, heavy downpours called cloudbursts. 8 people were killed in flash floods and 5 died in landslides. Other people lost their lives in different ways like drowning (18 people), falling from rocks or trees (18 people), snake bites (9 people), or getting shocked by electricity (6 people).
On top of these deaths from natural disasters, the state has also had a lot of road accidents. In the same time period, 78 people have died in car crashes. This means that more than 170 people have lost their lives in total because of the rain and dangerous roads. The districts of Mandi, Shimla and Solan have had the most road accident deaths with 14, 10 and 10 deaths respectively. These are according to a cumulative loss report released by the State Disaster Management Authority of the state. The report covers the period from June 20 to July 31.
Right now, officials are working hard to figure out how to fix the damaged highway. But with the rain still coming down, it is a very difficult job. For now, people who were planning to travel on this road need to find a different way to get around. This event shows how fragile the roads are in the mountains, especially when the monsoon season hits so hard. It is a reminder that everyone needs to be extra careful and stay safe during this time
