05-08-2025
Flash floods in Northern India kill at least 4 as entire villages swept away
Watch as flash floods sweep through villages, destroying several communities in the northern region of India.
At least four people have been killed and many feared missing after flash floods swept through a Himalayan village in northern India.
Footage shows floodwaters surging down a mountain and crashing into homes, small hotels, and guesthouses in Dharali, a mountain village in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand state.
The flooding was triggered by intense cloud bursts - sudden and highly localised heavy rainstorms.
In the aftermath of the disaster, government-run schools and colleges have been ordered to shut as emergency operations continue.
While officials have so far confirmed four fatalities, unverified reports from the ground indicate the true toll may be significantly higher.
A local journalist based in Uttarkashi told ITV News after interviewing residents and eyewitnesses, he feared more than 300 people may have died in the flooding.
He said: "I've spoken to many locals who say entire families and clusters of homes were swept away.
"The scale of destruction is unlike anything we've seen here."
Authorities have yet to corroborate this claim, and efforts to verify the numbers are ongoing as access to remote areas remains difficult due to landslides and damaged infrastructure.
India's National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed three teams to the disaster zone, while two more are on standby for air deployment.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) — a paramilitary force that often assists in mountainous rescues — has dispatched multiple teams, including a 16-member group already operating in the affected zone.
Local police, fire services, and soldiers from the Indian Army's Rajput Rifles regiment are also on the ground assisting with evacuations.
According to Uttarkashi's senior police official Sarita Doval, residents have been moved to safe shelters, but the operation remains complex.
She told Indian news agency ANI: "Our teams are working in extremely challenging conditions.
"Landslides have blocked some access routes, leaving a few rescue teams stranded temporarily"
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said in a statement that rescue agencies were working 'on a war footing' and were doing everything possible to save lives.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he has spoken with Chief Minister Dhami and added in a post on X: "Rescue and relief efforts are underway in full force. Every possible measure is being taken to help those affected."
President of India Droupadi Murmu also expressed her condolences, calling the event "extremely tragic" and praying for the success of ongoing rescue operations.
Dharali is area that also serves as a key stop along the route to Gangotri, one of Hinduism's holiest pilgrimage sites nestled in the Himalayas.
It is believed a local religious fair being held nearby may have inadvertently reduced the number of people in the direct path of the floodwaters.
Trivendra Singh Rawat, a former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand and current member of the Indian parliament, told the Press Trust of India (PTI): "Because many locals had gathered for the fair, fewer people were at home when the flooding hit."
"The situation is still critical, but this may have prevented a greater loss of life."
The Uttarakhand Police have issued an official public warning, urging residents to stay away from riverbanks and ensure the safety of children and animals as water levels in the Kheer Ganga and adjacent rivers continue to rise.
Uttarkashi is located in a seismically and climatically sensitive zone of the Indian Himalayas, near the border with China and Nepal.
The flooding in northern India is the latest in a series of disasters that have battered the Himalayan mountains, which span across five countries, in the last few months.
Flooding and landslides as a result of heavy rains and glaciers melting due to high temperatures have killed over 300 people in Pakistan, reported the country's disaster agency.
The region frequently experiences cloudbursts, which can trigger landslides and floods in minutes.
Over 6,000 people died and 4,500 villages were affected when a similar cloudburst devastated Uttarakhand state in 2013.
