Subscribe
Flash floods in Uttarkashi’s Dharali town killed at least four, with dozens feared missing, as heavy rain continues to lash the region.
Rescue teams, including the Army and NDRF, have saved 130 people while IMD warns of further downpours in Uttarakhand.
New CSE data show the Himalayas have faced extreme weather on 822 days since 2022, killing 2,863 people across 13 states and UTs.
Experts warn that unplanned construction, melting glaciers and erratic rainfall are making the mountains increasingly disaster-prone.
At least four people have died and dozens are feared missing after flash floods swept through Uttarkashi district in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, underscoring the mounting toll of extreme weather in the fragile Himalayan region. The disaster comes days after over 180 people died in Himachal Pradesh landslides and floods.
The floods, triggered by torrential rain on Tuesday afternoon, tore through the Kheer Ganga river in Dharali, a town perched 8,600 feet above sea level. Videos captured by residents showed walls of water engulfing homes and hotels, sweeping away people and buildings in their path.
Rescue operations continued on August 6, 2025 with the Indian Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, State and National Disaster Response Forces and local volunteers combing the rubble. Uttarakhand’s chief minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, said 130 people had already been rescued as heavy rain persisted. The India Meteorological Department has issued warnings of further downpours in the state’s hill districts.
Analysis by Down To Earth (DTE) magazine and Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment shows the scale of weather-related destruction in the Indian Himalayas. According to India’s Atlas on Weather Disasters, the region has experienced extreme weather on nearly seven of every 10 days over the past three years.
The analysis looked at 13 Himalayan states and Union territories: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
Between January 2022 and March 2025, 822 days of severe rain, floods and landslides claimed 2,863 lives across 13 Himalayan states and union territories, including Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Assam and Jammu and Kashmir.
The intensity appears to be worsening: 2024 saw extreme weather on 70 per cent of the year’s days, while the first three months of 2025 have already recorded such events on 96 per cent of days.
The Supreme Court on August 1, 2025, voiced deep concern over unchecked construction and the influx of tourists in Himachal Pradesh, reminding the Centre and the states that revenue generation should not take precedence over ecology and the environment. The court warned that the day is not far when the Himalayan state could disappear from the country’s map if timely remedial measures are not taken.