Heavy Rains Cause Chaos Across India: Death Toll Rises, Highways Closed, Cities Flooded

Intense rainfall has wreaked havoc in various parts of India, causing landslides, flooding, and highway closures. Over 10,000 people were rescued from rain-affected trek routes in Uttarakhand. Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, and West Bengal faced significant infrastructure damage and evacuations. Rescue operations are ongoing as bodies are still being recovered.

Heavy rains lashed western and central parts of India on Sunday while a cloudburst in Jammu and Kashmir led to the closure of the arterial Srinagar-Leh national highway, cutting off the Kashmir Valley from Ladakh and rendering the Baltal base camp for the Amarnath Yatra inaccessible.

The death toll in last week's landslides in Kerala's Wayanad and Himachal Pradesh rose to 221 and 13, respectively, while more than 370 people, including pilgrims, stranded on the rain-ravaged trek route to Uttarakhand's Kedarnath, were evacuated.

So far, more than 10,000 people have been rescued from Kedarnath, Bhimbali and Gaurikund. The trek route to Kedarnath suffered extensive damage as a result of a cloudburst in Junglechatti near Lincholi last Wednesday.