Monsoon rains trigger deadly landslides, floods across northern India

Torrential monsoon rains across northern India over the past week have triggered landslides, flash floods and widespread disruption, killing dozens and forcing large-scale evacuations from Jammu and Kashmir to Himachal Pradesh and neighbouring states, officials said. The deadliest single incident was a landslide on the pilgrimage route to the Vaishno Devi shrine near Katra in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, when rescue teams recovered scores of bodies and survivors were still being sought, authorities said.

Officials in Jammu and Kashmir said at least 30 people died in the Vaishno Devi landslide, while other reports and agencies put the toll in the low to mid-30s and some local accounts indicated higher numbers as rescue operations continued. The region recorded exceptionally heavy rainfall, with officials reporting roughly 370 to 380 millimetres in a 24-hour period in parts of Jammu on Tuesday, one of the heaviest short-term falls in decades. Authorities suspended the Vaishno Devi pilgrimage and declared multiple relief camps as rivers rose and bridges, mobile towers and power lines were damaged.

Himachal Pradesh has also been hard hit. The State Disaster Management Authority...