A ceiling fan hanging with blades like limp noodles, a shutter on the floor with lockson, and nothingness where a wall once stood. The devastation at a market in Himachal Pradesh's Pandoh was not because of any flood, but floodgates of a dam opened on Sunday, without any warning. A nine-feet wall of water had gushed into the market, breaking the safety wall on the banks, and left a trail of wreckage.
Himachal Pradesh has been struggling with the monsoon fury, with torrential rains turning roads to rivers and rivers to angry seas washing away everything on its path -- cars houses or bridges.
"The water was coming from the dam. Initially it was not so much. then suddenly we were flooded. There was no time to remove our wares... I had machinery, spare parts," said one of the shopkeepers, whose Bolero car got swept downstream and got stuck in the sludge.
On Sunday, the authorities had opened all the floodgates of the Pandoh diversion dam after heavy overnight rainfall in its catchment area. The bridges connecting Aut village to Banjar, and Pandoh village were swept away by the overflowing Beas river in Mandi district.
Reports said the authorities expected the excess water to reach the Pong dam reservoir, which has the capacity to withhold additional water.
The Pandoh diversion dam is located on the Beas river in Mandi district 112 km upstream of the Pong dam. It diverts excess monsoon water towards the Pong dam. Otherwise, it diverts water towards the Satluj river which feeds the Gobind Sagar reservoir of the Bhakra dam.
31 people have died in Himachal Pradesh, which had reported 18 deaths till Monday. Neighbouring Uttarakhand also lost five people. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan reported one death each in rain-related incidents.
Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have been receiving "heavy to extremely heavy" rainfall over the last three days. This has flooded rivers, creeks and drains, which has massively damaged infrastructure and disrupted essential services in the states.
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