From hills to plains, rains paralyse daily life

NEW DELHI: Northern India reeled under a fresh wave of monsoon fury on Wednesday, with cloudbursts and torrential downpours disrupting life across several states.

- MPOST BUREAU

In Uttarakhand, nearly 2,500 tourists were stranded in Mussoorie after the main Dehradun—Mussoorie road was washed out, while Himachal Pradesh reported deadly landslides and flash floods that swept away homes. Punjab, still recovering from the recent inundation, raised its flood death toll to 57, even as evacuation and relief camps continued. Uttar Pradesh witnessed lightning strikes and waterlogging across multiple districts, leaving three dead, while the National capital saw dark skies, intermittent showers and a yellow alert issued by the weather office.

From broken bridges in the hills to flooded markets in cities, rescue teams and state authorities scrambled to restore connectivity and safeguard residents as the heavy rains extended their grip across the region.

The sudden cloudbursts in Dehradun district on Tuesday tore through the main route to Mussoorie, washing away stretches of road at multiple points. Police appealed to visitors to remain where they were-whether at hotels, guest houses, or homestays until the highway could be reopened.

Officials said the number of stranded people was much higher a day earlier, but many managed to exit Mussoorie through Vikasnagar after authorities cleared a longer 80-kilometre diversion that had itself been blocked by landslides. The usual road between Dehradun and Mussoorie is only 35 km.

To ease the crisis, engineers began installing a Bailey bridge at Kolhukhet. "Debris has been partially cleared from two points along the route, but the bridge installation will take a little more time," a police officer posted in Mussoorie said. IAS officer Rahul Anand, overseeing the operation, said by Wednesday evening that the work would be completed "in a couple of hours," after which the road would open to light vehicles.

The new bridge, he added, would also allow heavy machinery such as JCBS to reach landslide-hit areas beyond Kolhukhet for clearing operations.