New Delhi: At least 40 people have died and others are missing in flash floods triggered by intense monsoon rains in northern India over the past three days, local officials said on Sunday.
The rains inundated hundreds of villages, swept away mud houses, flooded roads and destroyed bridges in some parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand states. The Indian Meteorological Department predicted that heavy to very heavy rain would continue to fall in the region for the next two days.
Disasters caused by landslides and floods are common in India’s Himalayan north during the June-September monsoon season. Scientists say they are becoming more frequent as global warming contributes to the melting of glaciers there.
Last year, flash floods killed nearly 200 people and washed away houses in Uttarakhand.